


Heritage

by Feuerrot



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, BDSM, Cameos, Established Relationship, Fluff and Smut, Graphic Description, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 11:39:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 44,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16085384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feuerrot/pseuds/Feuerrot
Summary: The Mighty Nein are travelling down the roads of the Dwendalian Empire and roll into the town of Harfield. There they settle in and get themselves a new mission to fill their pockets. Along the way they find new friends and companions. But soon they get themselves into trouble and end up with more than they bargained for.Lots of Widomauk fluff and smut, M9 dynamics and world-building!





	1. Long Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear fellow CritRole fans! First Critical Role based fanfic ever.  
> This fiction is set into the future and will keep referencing to past events, which means spoilers!
> 
> You have been warned.
> 
> Enjoy!

**"Tieflings, as descendants of demons, are well adapted to the troubles their ancestors once faced. Ordeals for demons could be manifold, called upon as the universal problem solver. Warriors of unknown cunning and strength, succubae to charm your enemies or your own lonely hours away and fearsome hunters, wish fulfilling spirits and much more. It is clear that with a genealogy such as this one, tieflings were quite special." - One wise fan fiction author**

 

The morning breaks and Caleb slowly snakes an arm around the body next to his. The light is grey, the horizon yet undiscernible from the lingering fog and a cold wind wafts over the landscape. He snuggles closer for warmth and takes in the scent of Mollymauk, still fast asleep in their bedroll. Caleb starts spooning them gently and pushes his face into the space between violet locks of hair and square shoulders, registering a small increase in Molly’s breath rate. A low sound drops from Molly’s throat as Caleb’s cold nose meets their warm skin. Caleb smiles and pulls his beloved flush to his chest, while Molly’s hand finds his.

They both drift in and out of sleep until Beau rises from her watch post by the fire, and starts rummaging for breakfast.

 

“She will eat all the good stuff.”, Molly murmurs and they turn to stick their nose into Caleb’s hair. Smells like earth and something sweet.

“What’s the good stuff?” Caleb can’t imagine which food item of their choice has Molly calling it the good stuff. Their group had moldy bread and to be fair any travelling group had moldy bread. Then they also had some roots for stew and dried beef, a small pot of honey and spices. Everything very basic. A few days ago, they had come by some eggs and sweet bread. But that had vanished within what felt like mere seconds into their mouths.

“Parsnip with honey. Good stuff.”, the tiefling sighs. Caleb furrows his brow but can’t comment on that as Molly extricates themselves from their cuddling. They sit up and stretch before striding over to Beau with determination. The two stock up the fire and with their now even louder rummaging manage to wake the remaining group, except for Nott. She and Frumpkin are packed tight into her bedroll. Caleb moves to gently shake her awake. He shivers in the cold morning air and huddles under his blanket as soon as he is seated by the fire. Frumpkin is the first to bolt over and sidle up to him, meowing for breakfast. Nott wanders over next and groggily leans into his side, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

 

Fjord rumbles a low “Good mornin’” in the group's general direction before vanishing into the nearby trees while Jester is very interested in the things Molly hoards for their breakfast.

“And then you do what?”

“Boil it over the fire.” Molly taps a claw to their chin and looks around searchingly for their pot. Caleb watches as they slice up the parsnip and coat it in honey before dropping it into the empty pot. Over the fire a sweet caramel smell starts drifting towards them. Beau ogles it all with mild interest, while chewing on some dried beef. For good measure Molly even drops some of the beef into their honey parsnip, adds water to the stew and stirs is with a big smile upon their face.

 

Yasha’s large silhouette starts to move now as well and she slips past Jester to sit in between her and Fjord. She smiles as Molly starts to dish out their stew, accompanied with some bread roasted over the fire. Everyone starts eating and there are some delighted noises - from Jester, Molly and Yasha - to surprise from Fjord and Caleb and some rather strangled gulps from Nott and Beau. Nott exchanges her bowl of honey parsnip for Caleb’s bread, while Beau offers her portion up to Yasha.

“I guess you thought Beau to be more of sweet tooth than she actually is.” Caleb whispers into Molly’s ear. He points with his spoon to the monk, who is munching down bread with jerky.

“Never underestimate your enemies.”, they say with a wink. Caleb smiles and leans in once more.

“Very wise. But maybe next time you have to fight me for it. It’s very good, _Schatz_.”

Molly looks at him with a twinkle in their eyes. They kiss the tip of his nose and turn back to their bowl, tail swishing happily behind them. Frumpkin steals some dried beef and happily bats at their tail.

 

After finishing breakfast they all start to break up camp and stow their gear in the cart. The road is uneven and filled with puddles that soak Caleb’s sock through the holes in his boots. He chats with Fjord about better combat tactics, organizing their defenses and attacks. They both agree to put Molly and Beau at the center, as a distraction and decoy. Most times their enemies had immediately estimated them as dangerous. Yasha, if present at the time, would follow behind the two loud people - Molly and Beau protest true to their description with a loud howl. Caleb continues to elaborate that Yasha should follow behind the two _initial_ attackers to further disorient the enemy with her size and fierce demeanor. Hidden behind her would be Jester as their secret weapon. Jester beams at that and sticks her tongue out in Beau’s direction. Fjord would accompany her, having both close combat skills and range attacks, so Jester could cover him with her spectral lollipop. Meanwhile he would be able to break any forming enemy lines. Nott and Caleb were to stay behind and either do range attacks or Nott would sneak into position to take out key operators with her crossbow. In addition Caleb would be responsible to ensure a safe retreat should the enemy succeed in holding their ground and advance. Which meant letting them meet with his fire. While the cart rolls further down the road, Nott and Jester sit inside and try to make Frumpkin wear a harness. It's made of vines and small flowers, but they seem unsuccessful as the familiar darts out of the cart and remains on top of it for the time being.

 

Their feet carry them along the way with bickering and loose conversation. Fjord starts to theorize about the effects of different wildflowers and vegetation on the quality of honey.

“Not sure if you have noticed, but if honey is being made by bees traversing a forest then it often tends to be darker than the same product composed entirely of wildflowers.”

“Maybe the bees nibble at the tree bark?” Jester suggests, and Nott pipes up.

“Honey is just some bee spit, so what does it matter what color.”

“The taste is mighty different. Every honey is special and unique. The dark ones taste rich and heavy, while very light honey is floral and soft.”

Caleb thinks about the honey his hometown. It had been amber and if he had to describe the taste in Fjords way, then it would be warm and smooth. Now that he thought about it that did not sound like anything one would taste. Those were things to be felt. He scrunches his nose and tries to find the connection from his taste buds to a warm feeling and gets lost in thoughts. After a while Molly slips up beside him and takes his hand to prevent Caleb from falling. His gait has become a little uneven as he still chases textures in relation to taste. They admire the way is gaze is fixed at some distant point and his face looks much younger.

 

The honey discussion flows over into a heated debate about whether or not some members of the Mighty Nein should reduce the amount of sugar they eat. It is one of those battles that Fjord picks in good intention to nudge someone in the right direction but is completely overruled by Jesters energetic denial of not having pastries every single day. It even goes as far as Jester suspecting that Fjord might think she is unable to care for herself, which prompts her to show just how much good sugar does for her. She starts to flex and then hauls everyone’s bedrolls  over her head at once, accompanied with a wild scream. Frumpkin is spooked awake from his nap and jumps down to latch onto his wizard’s shoulder. That startles Caleb to a small jump into the opposite direction of the fuzzy attack and makes him crash into Mollymauk, who catches both of them while the air is being knocked out of their lungs. They topple down in a heap of coats and fur. Caleb sheepishly looks at them over his shoulder.

“Oh Molly, sorry, you alright?” He lifts himself up and helps them on their feet, coat stained with mud and wet pants.

“Just fine, dear. Got me by surprise that’s all.” They shoot Jester a dirty look and squeeze Caleb’s hand while smiling fondly at him. Beau has scouted ahead and is now returning towards them, staff loosely held in one hand.

“’bout five miles ahead is Harfield. Should make it ‘fore evening.”

That elicited some cheers and new conversation topics of where everyone wanted to go and what they all wanted to buy. Caleb, for once, had everything he needed, so he was looking forward to maybe some book shopping or just reading and relaxing. Molly on the other hand strongly vocalized their need for a bath, clean clothes and a massage, as well as some oil for their horns and talons. Caleb lifted their hand up to his mouth and ran his lips over their claws, they really were a little bit rough. Then he smiled and kissed their knuckles before once again training his gaze at the horizon, oblivious to Molly’s soft eyes and smile.

 

Soon enough Harfield came into view and they trotted behind some other travelers passing through the gates. Their cart was checked, Nott safely obscured by her disguise as a halfling. They walked into the city just barely before sunset. Harfield was a medium sized town and fit snug into its walls, but more and more houses were spilling to the outside of the walls. This made the council consider building a secondary wall and enlarge the city. They had passed multiple building sites for wells and the second wall before entering the city. Inside they roamed the streets and looked into the windows of a view shops. The city had been decorated with white and blue ribbons that were swaying in the gentle breeze. A huffing midwife tells them that it was to honor the homecoming of Lord Harlon’s second son. She advises them to visit the city’s southern parts to find a tavern for lodging. People are walking in the streets for their last tasks and business of the day. In the southern quarters they find the Barrel Roll. The tavern is made of stone on the ground floor and the additional levels are made of wood, weathered and shining a silvery grey in the evening sun. The bar consists of multiple barrels strung together and with a large wooden plank on top, the common room is half filled with patrons and the mood is lively. Few turn their heads and nod in acknowledgement of their presence before settling back into conversations.

 

“Evenin’ travelers. In need for a place to sleep?” Their innkeeper was small with a thin mustache, very little hair and pointy ears. He was bigger than Molly thought halflings could grow and they inch further a little, resting their elbows on the bar top. Molly chances a look and sees the halfling standing atop of something resembling a pier. They smile to themselves before taking him up on his offer.

“Indeed good sir, my companions and I would love to spend a few nights in your fine establishment.” They turn around to wink at Fjord, who had tensed for just a second.

“Three rooms would be nice, sir.” The half-orc continues.

“One for the gals, and two for the remaining gentlemen.”

“So one three and two twos. That’ll be six gold each please. Covers breakfast and three nights accommodation.” The halfling beams and hops down to collect the room keys. Caleb frowns and turns around eyeing his companions.

“Who is the fourth male?” Molly and Jester share a look before they both snort with laughter as Beau’s face lights up like the setting sun. Fjord gives her an apologetic look.

“Still, wanna bunk with me, though?”

“Yeah, whatever.” Beau rasps and continues with a foul glare.

“Wouldn’t wanna break up the two love birds.”

“Awfully sweet of you dear Beauregard. I’ll make sure to thank you later, with all my vocal capacity.” Molly grins while sneaking their tail around Caleb’s back. They press the tip against his cheek and turn his head for a kiss.

“Don’t drag me into your quarrel.” He groans but accepts the kiss, nonetheless. Beau retches and Jester is already making plans for where to go next.

 

The group tends to the horses and empties the cart, they put their stuff into their respective rooms and trickle down into the common room. Caleb debates wether to let Frumpkin roam the city or to keep him in their room, but then decides to let him run off on his kitty business. As soon as they are complete they start to wander the streets once more. Pubs are gradually opening their doors and shops close, but it is still interesting to peer through dirty windows or tainted glass at the inside. Caleb finds a bookshop and memorizes its location for a morning visit. Jester is very happy to find a shop offering general goods to buy a new quill for drawing.

“The old one is pretty blunt by now, so if I want to draw like very nice flowing gorgeous hair it now only comes out as a sorry mess.” She explains to Nott and then points towards a shop sign laid in with gold paint and the promising image of a ring. Molly’s eyes keep on scanning the buildings for a very distinct kind of establishment and they are close to loosing hope. The group begins to circle back towards the inn, they already are about to accept defeat and the small bath tub waiting for them, as they feel a light tug on their sleeve.

 

Beau is pointing towards a low building with steam rising from its roof. Nothing they have ever seen before, but it was the closest thing to a bathhouse they have seen all day. Cheerily they hook their arm with Beau and drag the protesting monk along. Due to the protest the rest of the group slows and sees what Molly is racing up to. Nott squeaks and Caleb sighs, while Jester is as excited as Molly and runs after them. Fjord and Yasha seem to quietly run inventory of their body hygiene before also starting off into the same direction. In front of the entrance Molly bounces on their heels and reads the sign saying “Bathhouse” over and over. As the group is complete they walk in, the lady at the counter offers them a sincere smile.

“Welcome to our bathhouse.”

“Hello, dear.” Molly purrs. Beau yanks her arm from their grip and retreats back to Yasha.

“My companions and I would like to take a bath and maybe have our clothes cleaned, please?”

“That is absolutely doable, good sir. May I interest you in some of our fine soap and oil palettes?”

Molly lets the masculine address slide and nods eagerly. Jester squeezes to the counter next to them and eyes the tablet the woman presents.

 

On the tablet there are six small boards made of pale wood. Beautifully formed soaps are arranged on them, together with decorative flowers and three vials on each board, two sleek and one round.

“From the right to the left” the woman says and points at each board as she goes, lifting them up for Jester and Molly to take a sniff.

“Sea bucktooth and apple.” It’s colored lightly orange and smells like autumn.

“Lavender.” Sure enough the soap is violet, and Molly greets the smell like an old friend.

“Wild roses and chamomile.” Soft pinkish tinged soaps in the shape of blossoms and a very floral smell.

“Magnolia.” Turns out to be plain white with small red sprinkles and it smells like fresh sheets.

“Honey with orange.” A strong yellow color appears before Molly’s eyes and their mouth starts to water, they smell delicious.

“And lastly cedar and iris.” The earthy smell mingles with a soothing floral note, the soap a heavenly light blue.

“Each of these palettes runs at four gold, they are of the highest quality. The oils included are one for bathing and one for smoothing tired skin. They vary in concentration, with bath being of a higher one. The remaining vial” She points at the bulbous one. “Is a parfum. To be applied cautiously.”

Jester glances over to Molly and they share a quiet conversation before nodding.

“I’ll take the wild roses and chamomile, please.” She chirps up and Molly points towards the lavender with a small smile. They can use the addition to their waning inventory.

 

“Then for you two that would be eight gold for bath, cleaning and soaps. The rest of your companions I would charge four gold each.” The lady smiles.

“No cleaning for me.” Caleb says from behind and her smile doesn’t waver even the slightest bit.

“Then that would be three gold for you, sir.”

She hands out the packages of soap and shows them to one of many changing rooms. It has wooden walls and the group undresses quickly, leaves their clothes in baskets, except for Caleb, who hangs his coat and book holster with care onto the provided hooks. Molly hums contently and weighs the package in their hands. Jester is first to leave, and she steps through a heavy curtain. Steam billows into the room as she steps out and then squeals. Their heads whip around and they all rush towards the sound of their companion, spilling in behind her. Caleb’s eyes widen with the view and Fjord chokes.

 

The Bathhouse doesn’t have a roof. It doesn’t have tubs. In fact it looks nothing like a bathhouse. The stars above them twinkle as lazy plumes of steam rise from the surface of multiple ponds. In between are small stone paths, moss and grass. Flowers bloom by the edges of the water and there are shrubs, trimmed to be aesthetically almost see-trough and decorated with small wind chimes. Every pool is obscured from some angle and offers privacy.

“Fuck.”

“Yes, Beau, fuck indeed.” Yasha murmurs and steps onto one of the many paths.

“BEST BATHHOUSE EVER!” Jester screams and bolts down another. Molly takes a staring Caleb by the hand and coaxes him to follow them in the opposite direction of where Jester has run off to. They smile at Nott to follow them, but she only waves and vanishes behind Fjord. While they can’t see their companions anymore, they are still audible as Molly’s eyes look for a pond they like. One that catches their eye is situated under an overgrown acer, leaves deeply slit, pointy and tinged slightly red. By the waterside grow flowers that Molly has never seen before, their leaves like slim blades and with blossoms of white, next to small bushes with rose colored blossoms and shiny, dark leaves.

 

“This is incredible.” Caleb muses. He kneels down to touch the grass and stones.

“This is lovely.” Molly adds and slides into the water. The pond feels just like a real one, but it can’t be, and Molly knows that. They have Caleb theorize next to them almost every day and night. And he is about to start again.

“Must be somewhere, this spell needs a sigil to keep up and a channeling device for-“

“Darling, please. Ponder all you want, but I would like to enjoy the illusion of this nice garden. So maybe think quiet?” Caleb has moved around the pond in his search of the enchanted sigil. Now he moves closer again and presses a soft kiss between their horns.

“Want some help with oiling your horns, _Schatz_?”

“Hmm, please.” They reach into the package and pass him the skin oil. Caleb uncorks it and a waft of lavender washes over them. The water is loosening their muscles with its heat, they pull their knees to their chest and let Caleb take off their jewelry. Their tail sways gracefully in the water and they feel the small ripples rush over their submerged skin. Caleb rubs oil into their horns, in slow circles at the base and short strokes continuing down their spiral. They know that Caleb doesn’t like the texture of their horns, even less with oil. But they also accept his offer and the underlying sincerity as he meticulously coats every inch in a good amount of oil. After he is done, Caleb slides in next to them and winces at the temperature. Molly wraps him in their arms and dips him back to shower his face with thank-you kisses until the human giggles and shoves a hand in their face.

 

“Come here you dirty man.” They grin and rummage for the soap. It’s the size of their fist and they lather their hands with it before starting to rub Caleb down. He squirms under their ministrations, but they hook their feet and wrap their tail around his waist to keep him from running.

“Molly, I can- please, stop- I can do it myself, really.” Caleb huffs and tries to wiggle away.

“Let me take care of my man. Stay.” They say with a purr and knead into his shoulders. He still doesn’t stop to twist in their grip, so they playfully bite into the back of his neck and hold. Caleb immediately stops squirming and goes pliant in their arms. They fasten their grip on him and pull back, worried all of a sudden.

“I did said stay, but are you alright?”

Caleb grumbles, but he leans back closer into them with a blush creeping up his face.

“You’re scaring off Yasha.” He points out. Molly raises their head and finds Yasha, standing awkwardly a few feet down the path.

“Yasha! Come, join us!” They exclaim and their tail flicks out of the water in excitement. She trots over with a shy smile and then lowers her massive body into the pond. She closes her eyes and a wave of contemplation and silence wafts over Caleb and Molly. Caleb scoops water onto Molly’s head and starts massaging soap into the soft locks. Its quiet and gentle, in the distance they hear the rest of their group, but the sounds don’t invade their small bubble of peace. Soon the two are done with washing and move close, melting into each other. As much as Molly would like to move over and give Yasha a piece of purple tiefling, they feel that they should not abandon Caleb right now, not after that strange moment.

 

“Sorry, shouldn’t have done that.” Molly murmurs and trails their finger over the bite mark on Caleb’s neck. They inspect it closely; the skin is intact, and the mark already subsides.

“Instincts run wild sometimes.”

“It was kind of overwhelming, and it felt…strange.” Caleb says and touches the mark as well.

“I mean, you- you have bitten me often enough, but that has never… never happened before.”

Molly looks at his face, searching for hurt, discomfort or withdrawal.

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”

Caleb thinks about the question and rubs his neck. Then he shakes his head, eyes fixed on the surface of the water. They let him be, ground him with their body against his. Time floats by and they drift off to somewhere else, silence in their head. Above them the sky is darkening into night and they wonder why they feel no cold night air. Their eyes follow the wisps of steam ascending towards the stars and they let their thumb circle around Caleb’s hipbone.

“It-It was…” A raspy voice next to them starts to speak and they turn their head.

“It, ah, it…” Caleb struggles to put his thoughts into spoken words and his eyes are still fixed on the water. Molly takes his hand in theirs and squeezes lightly.

“Yes, darling?” The human blinks a few times, slowly coming back to himself. Then he lifts his eyes to their nose, which is close enough.

“It was ah instant submission. And that-that felt good but-but-but terrifying.” Caleb stutters.

“I won’t do it again, love. I’m so sorry to have terrified you.” Molly squeezes his hand again and Caleb squeezes back. He snuggles closer and they rest their chin on his head, running their hand over his back. They loop back into silence and even breathing, trailing their gaze over Yasha’s relaxed form.

 

“Maybe some other time, I- I would like it.” Caleb whispers against their neck and they feel a pleasant tingle move up their spine. They purr deep in their chest and move their arms around him, squeezing him closer.

“You say the word and I’m at your service, my love.” Caleb smiles against their skin.

A small bell rings three times.

“That’ll be our clothes.” Molly sighs. Yasha opens her eyes and smiles at them, before lifting herself up and stepping out onto the small patch of grass. The tiefling slowly guides Caleb out of the pond and into the changing room, where they start to towel themselves. Jester and Nott are the next ones to come in and dress themselves, followed by Beau and Fjord.

“Here Molly, smell me!” Jester squeals and envelopes them with her body, smelling heavily of wild roses and chamomile. It suits them, Molly admits and kisses her cheek.

“You smell lovely, darling.” The blue tiefling beams and wiggles her hips. Then she turns to Caleb.

“Cayleb, you also have a lovely scent.” She smiles toothily. Caleb nods his head in her direction and crooks his mouth a tiny bit upwards.

“MUCH better than normally, because normally you kinda-“

“I like how Caleb smells, at any given point. There is no better or worse.” Molly states and pinches Jester’s nose. She squeals and bats at his hand. Caleb moves in from behind and presses a kiss between their shoulder blades.

“Ooooooh, so sweet. Just like Oscar once did, you know when that one time he-“ She trails off, fantasizing about a fictional half-orc and Molly entertains her with comments and surprised gasps.

 

On their way back to the tavern Molly enjoys the smell of their clean clothes, Caleb’s calloused fingers tangled with theirs and the cool night air. Their hair is bound in a short ponytail and they have a hefty appetite simmering in their stomach. The Barrel Roll has become even livelier over the course of the past three hours and the innkeeper as well as his three sons are running about, while presumably his wife is loudly bickering in the kitchen with the second chef. The Mighty Nein sit down at a table by the wall and decide with a quick game of even or uneven who is to get first round and dinner for everyone. Jester loses. It takes her half an hour to get back with their drinks, luckily the food is delivered right along. Molly digs into their plate of venison stew with carrots, potatoes and leech, and receive horrified glances from Caleb and Beau due to their lack of restraint. It is accompanied by dark bread, which they dip into the rich broth .

“Shoo fugging goog!” They sigh with a stuffed mouth. Then swallow it all with a swig of ale and collapse back into their seat. Caleb looks at the discernible bulge of their belly.

“You have quite the appetite, _Schatz_.” He states and cleans the corner of their mouth with a quick swipe of his thumb, sucks it into his mouth without breaking eye contact. Teasingly Molly runs their forked tongue through their lips and does a wet pop. Caleb chuckles and returns to his book.

 

Molly’s tail comes up to his forearm, snaking into his sleeve and caresses the sensitive skin. But Caleb really wants to finish this chapter, it sounds very promising for their future as a group. Communication is key before and during battle, coordinating and moving the members of their party with maximum effect and safety. He and Nott did have the copper wire spell, and Jester could cast Message, but it was always a hassle to get the spell going or find the time and right mind for it in the heat of battle. He wanted to find a more passive way of communication, a steady link of information. Handsfree was another perk that he wanted to achieve, increase mobility. He found that planning for the group was quite fun. The book’s chapter on communication first of described a spell that was derived from the message spell of the copper wire. Any metal, it said, could respond to waves of any nature if properly attuned to it. Copper was a good metal for sending small vibrations, also known as voice, along a distinct pathway and back. Capacity was achieved through the material itself. Copper was limiting in its capability to convey more than twenty words, the inherent substance of the material seemed to tire with the spell and need to recharge. More dense materials like lead would not respond at all, they seemed to be too sluggish. Taking in all the available metals of the Dwendalian Empire it had been shown by multiple experiments that especially gold and platinum were excellent transmitters. The author mused about that and pointed to the reluctance of gold and platinum to rust or react with the elements. They seemed to be pure and inherent, once a vibration was transmitted it would echo for longer and not exhaust the metal.

 

Mollymauk’s tail is gone, but his foot has shimmied between Caleb’s legs and is now pressing into his thigh, slowly wandering closer to his groin. He sighs and plucks it off his lap. He brings his eyes up to Molly’s and holds their gaze while reaching for their hand. He pulls it slowly to his lips and presses a soft kiss to the back of it.

“Behave and I will make it worth your while later.” He whispers into the soft skin and runs his tongue along one of the tendons. Caleb breaths onto the wet trail. The eyes of the tiefling grow wider for the short fraction of a second, before they become half closed and a low purr emanates from their chest. With that Caleb is satisfied and resumes his read, rubbing circles into the back of Molly’s hand.

So, gold and platinum were the ideal metals for message delivery, if a continuous flow of information in both directions was the objective. Sounded very much like the thing that Caleb wanted to accomplish. Now, how to initiate and continue the spell without active casting? Therefore the author suggested multiple possibilities. The metal could be engraved or embossed with a spell caster sigil, once activated it would leach on the element of its origin until depleted or the metal corroded. Another suggestion was to embed a platinum or gold thread into the body of those wanting to communicate, fusing it with blood and the magic of the caster’s body to deliver the words whispered to the skin right above. (Caleb wrinkles his nose while imagining the whole thing and starts scratching at his forearm) Then there is also the option to embed a stone into the transmitter, a durable stone as a diamond or ruby, to hold the sigil in place and feed it with the fire and earth energy that pulses trough the stones. As they have been formed in the deep earth womb they are infused with her feral and rudimental energies, the clearer the more pressure and energy they had been subjected to.

 

Caleb closes the book. He kisses Molly’s hand and nibbles at it softly. The tiefling’s eyes surge up and their tail thumps excitedly on the floor of the tavern. Caleb smiles at them with promise and gestures for them to move closer. Molly shuffles in their seat and leans in.

“Why don’t you head upstairs first and make yourself comfortable? I need to talk to Nott for a second, then I'll be right up.” Caleb mutters softly into their ear with a promising smile and Molly gently strokes his thigh before standing up. They say their goodbyes to the group and walk off to the stairs with their tail curling excitedly. Caleb rubs his hands over his face and leans back a little, anticipation surging through him.

“You were saying?”, Nott asks from his other side and sets down her flask. She tries to hold still while Jester is braiding her hair into an elaborate rose, but her eyes always travel to the side trying to catch a glimpse of the result. For a few moments, Caleb simply watches them and thinks about how much he is happy for Nott to have a group of friends now. More friends than just him. Better friends than any of her tribe have ever been. Family imposed by blood could suck. A family of friends is chosen and beloved. Much better.

 

“I was saying”, he starts their conversation and taps on the book in front of him.

“I was saying that we should see to sophisticating our communication system. I noticed that we could do much better if spell casting to invoke a message could be left aside. Much faster work then and no distraction while casting.”

Jester’s ears perk up and she nodds her agreement vividly, putting finishing touches to Nott’s braid.

“We should totally do that!”, she stage-whispers for everyone at the table to hear.

“Like real secret agents or assassins! That would be so cool!” She bounces.

“Very much like those indeed.” Caleb chuckles.

“And what do you need me for?” Nott’s eyes are as large as saucers and gleam in the dim light of the tavern.

“For that purpose, we need jewelry, earrings or bracelets. But not any kinds of, they need to be of platinum and have clear diamonds. Very difficult to come by and very expensive. I was wondering if maybe something in your collection would fit these specifics?”

“And if-if there were something?” The wizard could see the struggle eating at his friend. Her hands clutch the flask tighter and her eyes dart between his face and the table before her. Caleb slumps down a little and moves his hands to slightly brush against Nott’s forearm.

“Then maybe we could borrow those from you? Or take you shopping someday to find something to compensate?”

“I don’t know…”, she quietly murmurs.

“Why don’t we keep on using the wire or spell scroll? It is easy enough and worked so far!”

 

Nott takes a swing from her flask and looks like she just found the perfect solution.

“Because the wire may not be found in time and is limited in word count. The casting of the spell will distract the person from the fight and endangers them. Nott, please.” Caleb is looking at her with his most pleading eyes. He really wants to try that spell and enchant the items.

“Please Nott, please. It would be so awesome to like talk into your sleeve and the other person will hear instantly and no more rummaging around and casting on the spot! I once got a good slap while I was searching for the spell scroll.”, Jester chips in and starts braiding a second rose.

“And then we would give everyone an earring or bracelet and then everyone can hear what is said and what is happening! And we would all look totally cool with the shinies on!”

Nott looks very unhappy, but she also furrows her brow at Caleb and raises a hand to pat his cheek.

“I will- I will think about it. And then maybe shopping would be nice.”, she concludes with a small smile. Caleb smiles back.

“Thank you, _Spatz_ ”

He takes up his tankard and empties it. Then he grabs the book, moves back his chair and stands, waving good night to his companions before jumping up the stairs, nerves tingling once again.

 

The room he shares with Molly has two beds and is situated at the end of the hallway, to the left. Therefore, it has two outer walls and only one wall is shared with another room. They didn’t pick it for that reason, but they were not to complain about the perks this situation involved. As of right now the other room was empty judging by the lack of light and sound coming from it. Contrary to this was their room, light wafting through underneath the door and he could hear bare feet on the ground, tapping the rhythm of a song he didn’t recognize. Caleb stands before the door and straightens his collar, one hand musses his hair and he clears his throat.

Warmth envelops Caleb as he opens the door and he finds Molly lounging naked on their shared bed, one of their feet dangles off the edge and taps a rhythm, their index finger plays with one of the deep purple locks and red eyes are half closed. Their tail curls lazily on the mattress. The room is warm and small flames lick at the charred logs, the curtains are drawn closed. As soon as Caleb walks in Molly perks up and turns towards the door. A grin splits their face and sharp teeth flash at Caleb as he closes the door behind him, locks it and walks across the room to put his cloak and book holster next to Molly’s neatly folded clothes. Their scimitars are tugged away neatly, Molly has already performed their prayers over them. It is a new pair, obtained through a quest for the Gentleman, and riddled with sweeping patterns that had been edged into the steel surface. Along the edge, holes had been drilled through and silk ribbons are attached to the handles. True show weapons and perfect for one Mollymauk Tealeaf. Caleb carefully sets the books down on the bedside table of their spare bed. He absentmindedly traces one finger over the embroidery of Molly’s colorful coat, listening to the new rhythm performed by their bare feet. Arms move around his middle and long fingers find their way through the bindings of his shirt to caress soft skin underneath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are greately appreciated and will make me weep myself to sleep with joy.


	2. You and I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all for leaving kudos and thank YOU for commenting on the first chapter :)
> 
> Chapter 2 concentrates on the relationship of Molly and Caleb.  
> I think I should mention, this story is set very far ahead of current events.  
> Trigger warning (I'm hopefully doing this right): Anxiety, fear of abandonment and withdrawal 
> 
> Please proceed with your own safety in mind.  
> You may check the end notes for further details.
> 
> Enjoy!

 

 

“Took you long enough”, Molly chastises him softly and their chin comes to rest on his left shoulder. Their breath ghosts over his neck before lips start exploring up towards his reddening ears and their tail flexes around his thigh.

“That was a sensitive topic for Nott. Nothing to rush.”, Caleb explains and leans back into Molly.

“What did you talk about with her?”

“I want to make it easier for us to communicate in battle. I read about a spell to enchant jewelry. Best materials for the spell are supposed to be platinum and diamonds.”

Molly has worked open his shirt, their hands now freely roaming his stomach and chest. They chuckle.

“I can see why you went to Nott for that.”

Caleb turns his head and catches Molly in a sweet kiss, turning around to better access his favorite tiefling. His hands come up to cup their face and his thumbs stroke their cheeks gently. The kiss deepens as Molly opens their mouth and tilts their head, body moving forward to press up against Caleb’s bare chest. He can feel their navel piercing pressing into his skin and their hands wander to drop the shirt off his shoulders. With a quick kiss he steps away and shrugs it off with a practiced motion onto the pile of his cloak.

As Caleb turns back around he catches Molly watching him with a strange look on their face. His eyebrows wander upwards and he opens his arms questioningly.

 

Right before them the wizard gets rid of his shirt and Molly realizes multiple things all at once. First, Caleb is undressing in front of them and not shy about it. the sudden realization hits them and invokes a pleasant feeling in their stomach.

Caleb’s back is scarred from the burns, his arms a tangled mess of skin, but all of it has a much healthier color. The knobs of his spine are less prominent and now that Caleb doesn’t hunch his shoulders anymore they are broad and filled with calm. There are back dimples for the Gods sake. Molly feels their body tingle with happiness at the sight before them and their heart melts with joy. Caleb musters them questioningly, but all they can do is take him in with all his splendor. His ribs are not visible anymore, the jutting hipbones less pronounced and his ass two perfect handfuls. Caleb’s legs are still skinny and would probably always be, but at least not stick thin anymore!

Caleb is far from the man they had met long time ago in a tavern.

A shuddering breath escapes Molly and they step closer to their miracle. It envelops them in warm arms and soothes them with sweet words and soft strokes, lips pressed to their pointed ear.

Here they had thought that as soon as Caleb would walk through that door they would engage in filthy and sweaty sex. They had set the mood, gotten naked and the fire going. And now they are a shivering mess in Caleb’s arms and far from the aforementioned scenario.

 

“Molly, hey Molly.” They press closer to Caleb, feeling the softness of his belly and the muscle on his back. He softly strokes circles into the small of their back.

”Shh, hey _was ist los_? It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Caleb is at a loss, but holds Molly close, nonetheless. They cling to his frame but there are no tears, maybe it is not a bad thing that has Molly in its grip. He kisses their temple, their forehead and between their eyebrows, searching their eyes for hurt or discomfort. Anything really, while their tail still squeezes his thigh.

He sees warmth and deep love reflected in those crimson eyes, a soft smile tugging at the corners of a fast mouth.

“Everything alright?”, Caleb asks and brings one hand up to their face.

“More than alright. It’s great, it’s perfect. You are perfect.”, they sigh and a small laugh swings with their words.

“So beautiful, so brave, so incredibly smart.”

Caleb can’t help but let a grin split his face.

“Molly, _Schatz_ , wow. I-ah-thank you. You are-you are also very pretty.”

He blinks, and sighs. He could kick himself with his words failing him like that. They deserve more praise, more sweet words. But Molly seems to love the compliment, no matter how inadequate Caleb thinks that it is.

 

“How did I even find someone as good as you? Caleb, darling, look at you! You are stunning! So beautiful and you gained weight, your belly is soft, and I love it, I’m so happy to have you in my arms. You are-”

His face grows redder with every word that spills from Molly’s mouth and to keep himself from burning up, he seals their lips shut with a fierce kiss. Molly moans and hungry hands grab at Caleb’s ass, still in his trousers. He kisses them like a drowning man, hands tangled in their silky hair, he gets lost in the softness of their lips. They have to part for air eventually, Molly’s spine tingles with the hunger in Caleb’s eyes staring at them. They smile, then nip on his lower lip.

Elegantly, Molly slinks down to their knees Caleb is left to wonder at their beauty, his hands mussing the dark plum hair and gliding along the ridges of the ram horns. Their jewelry is missing, and Caleb is thankful for that as he feels the heat of Molly’s mouth on his clothed cock. His hands grip their horns tight and he gasps. Their hands are still on his behind as they work the bindings open with their teeth and mouth hungry kisses over the uncovered, sensitive skin.

The trousers fall to the ground, only smallclothes now between Molly and Caleb’s cock, both eager for an in-detail meeting. Caleb moans as Molly comes close again and nips at his crotch, hot tongue and lips touching his cock through the fabric. They lift their gaze and ask Caleb for permission to remove the last obstacle. His hand comes down and traces their sharp cheekbones and full lips.

“Get on the bed.”, Caleb says hoarsely and tugs at their bottom lip. Molly freezes, then nods and scrambles for the bed, grace lost in anticipation and impatience.

 

They situate themselves and look at Caleb expectantly, while he starts to pull of his boots and leaves his trousers and smallclothes on the floor.

His eyes return to the bed in front of him and he finds Molly shamelessly presenting their swelling cock, half hard and deliciously dark violet. Caleb looks at them lovingly. He feels their presence in his bones, in every pound he gains and every morning he greats with a smile. Molly is in his hands, trying to be soft and caring, despite their callouses and past. Molly is in his spells, protecting the Mighty Nein and bending the magic to his will. Molly is in his eyes, seeing the wonders of the world and the hearts of the people around him, finding the little sparks that make life wonderful. Caleb’s heart pounds a song of love and devotion as he smiles and steps closer.

“Today”, he begins, kneeling on the mattress as it dips with his weight.

“Today I want to worship you, as the beautiful and breathtaking creature that you are.”

Caleb leans down and registers how Molly’s eyes grow even wider, how their breathing accelerates and their face lights up with a radiant smile. His hands come down on either side of the tiefling as their tail thumps frantically onto the mattress.

“Caleb, darling.”, they manage to say before they are lost in a slow, deep kiss. Their tongues travelling both mouths and deep moans filling the silence, Molly’s hands come up to his shoulders and start pulling Caleb in.

 

Caleb, without stopping to kiss them, crawls in between their legs and gets settled. Then he breaks away and begins to litter their face with kisses.

“Those lovely eyes.  Bright with mischief.” He murmurs, and plants kisses on their eyelids, Molly blinks with a small giggle. Caleb kisses up their forehead, temples, down the back of their nose.

“I like your nose, it didn’t care about my smell back in the days.” He smiles and kisses the tip, tickling Molly.

“I liked your smell, it was yours after all. And maybe it’s tiefling nature” They purr, stroking up his biceps.

“The raw and filthy, sweaty and dirty-“ Their mouth is again sealed with a kiss and they whine into it. Slowly and thoroughly, the wizard reduces them to a boneless puddle before drawing back and continuing to speak.

“This mouth with a wicked tongue. Perfect soft lips, perfect for kissing.” He compliments.

With a small nibble at their earlobe Caleb draws a deep sigh from them and moves on to their ear tip. Their laugh lines and ears made to hear vows of deep love, then he moves on to their beautifully curved horns. All the while his hands are never far behind, stroking and trailing their slender neck and cheek, combing through soft hair and over hard horn tissue. Molly’s eyes fall closed and they revel in their lover’s tender caresses.

 

“Caleb, darling. Feels so good. Thank you, my love.”, Molly sighs and their voice is throaty. Caleb nibs along their sharp jawline and moves lower, past their throat and bites gently at their collarbone.

“I want to mark you.”, he says with a growl and laves the skin with his tongue.

“Please.”, Molly agrees wholeheartedly and curves their body into Caleb’s.

The wizard latches his mouth to the small dip between their collarbones and worries their skin between his teeth before he sucks it in. His partner moans and hands scratch over his scalp.

“Make it big.”, they encourage him, so Caleb starts planting another mark right next to the first and then another.

Molly purrs as Caleb moves along their collarbones and leaves numerous hickeys in his wake, while his hands wander lower. He knows the exact moment they reach their target as Molly sucks in a sharp breath and moans deep as the air escapes their lungs. Caleb circles their nipples with his thumbs, rubbing and pressing lightly before he bends down and suckles at one of the hardened buds, the other pinched between two fingers.

“ _Haah_ , _mmhmmmm_ Caleb”, Molly whines.

“You have such beautiful breasts.” The wizard whispers and cups both with his hands, squeezes them as Molly shudders and writhes.

Caleb sucks a nipple back into his mouth, then rubs his tongue against it and kneads it between his lips, noticing how Molly’s hips start gyrating and their breath carries needy whimpers. Then he takes the other nipple in his mouth. Their cries and small whines make his cock throb and his mind memorizes everything they give him.

As Molly’s legs start pressing into his sides, Caleb decides that he is done torturing their swollen nipples. His hands move lower, fingers glide over their hip bones and thighs. Caleb lifts one of their legs up and kisses the inside of their knee, mouthing along their calf and down to their ankle.

“I love your legs, when you wrap them around me. The way they look in those incredible boots.” His tongue runs over the tendons in their foot and he kisses their toes.

“And you have the cutest toes I have ever seen.”

“Lies and slander.” Molly purrs, wiggling their toes.

“You think that Frumpkin has the cutest.”

Caleb pretends to think about this for a second, then he shrugs.

“Second cutest then.” And plants another kiss on their ankle.

He slips one hand underneath their side and pulls them with him, both lying on their sides eventually. Molly presses close to steal kisses from Caleb, wraps their arms around him and snakes one leg between Caleb’s thighs.

“No. Not like that.”, Caleb smiles and guides Molly’s leg out and atop of his hips.

“Oh, something new?”, they purr and their arms curl around his neck.

 He kisses them deeply and bites their lower lip, dragging his teeth over it. Molly moans and writhes against him. Caleb feels for the vial tucked underneath their pillow. Then he takes the pillow and pushes it underneath their horn, to make them more comfortable. Molly purrs in thanks and presses a kiss on the bridge of Caleb’s nose. Caleb smiles, removes the stopper and starts preparing his hand behind Molly’s back.

 “I hope you like it.”

Molly gasps as a finger breaches them slowly.

“Ah- _haaaah_!”, they whimper, and their forehead falls against Caleb’s.

“You alright?”, he asks and kisses them lovingly.

“Abso-fucking-lutely peachy.”, Molly replies.

“All is well then?”

“Yes Caleb, all is well. I promise. Please continue.” They litter his face with small kisses.

Caleb catches them for a deep kiss and they nib at his bottom lip, drawing a beautiful sound from him. His finger starts to pump into their ass and soon Molly’s breath comes shorter. It reaches deep, but it’s not enough, and Molly starts rocking into the finger. Caleb kisses them again as a second finger enters them and more sparks start racing up their spine. They feel Caleb’s hand leave them and whine. He  pulls their leg higher, past his hips and the fingers come back, reaching even _deeper_ into them. Simultaneously, the human is cupping their cock, stroking it into swelling more, precum gathering on its tip.

Caleb comes back in for a kiss, sloppy and with tongue. They suck on Caleb’s tongue, wishing it was his cock. They desperately need something more solid in their mouth as they squeeze into the languid strokes of Caleb’s fingers and lift their tail in needy desperation. Molly pants.

They open their mouth, tongue spilling outside and hot breaths escaping as they plead at Caleb with heavy eyelids. His blue eyes are blown black with lust, his hand leaves their cock and comes up to their face. They hungrily suck two of his fingers into their mouth, whining around them and massaging them with their tongue. Caleb in turn groans and his movement falters for a split second. A third finger comes into play and the stretch is delicious, their cock swelling and brushing against Caleb while their prostate is in the right place for random gentle brushes. Molly whines with every pumping move and arches their back.

 

Caleb takes in every sound and motion coming from Molly and tucks them away in his memory. They have become incredibly loose, their eyes closed while their tongue whirls around his fingers, making his cock ache. One of Molly’s hands has fallen from his shoulders to his side, kneading the flesh to ground the tiefling, lost in pleasure, the other is tangled in his hair. Caleb’s cock is hard, the sensations from both his hands are making his brain swim with lust and his tip rubs against Molly's soft lower belly.

Caleb removes his fingers from Molly’s mouth and meets them in a feverish and wet kiss, biting at the tender skin of their neck and increasing the pace of his fingers. His spit slick hand comes down to massage the base of Molly’s cock. Molly’s reaction is immediate, they start to squirm and whine even louder. Their motions become disrupted and irregular contractions hint at their state, a sheen of sweet gleaming on their muscular body.

“Caleb- Cay-Ca – _nnngh Haaaaaa_! Close! Close darling!” they wail as a deep stroke against their prostate makes their vision blur and their hips twitch.

 

“Thank you, _Schatz_.” Caleb pants and pulls out. At the loss of his fingers, Molly whines, mouthing at Caleb's neck.

“Caleb……Caleb, dear.” Their voice is strained and needy.

“Just a moment, _Schatz_ , have patience.” He strokes his knuckles down their cheek, kisses them and gives their ass a light squeeze before getting up.

Caleb moves from where they lay to his abandoned coat. His cock bobs with each step and he works hard to not stroke himself with his lubed-up hand that had just moments ago been buried inside Molly’s perfect ass. He reaches for his coat and pulls something out. With his hand curled around a small object, Caleb returns to his small puddle of a lover, everything soft and boneless, except their cock. It is fully erect, lying in an elegant curve on their stomach and leaking.

“What hast thee?” Molly tries themselves at a joke, but too fuzzy in their mind to really make it work.

“Something to put you at ease until the main event.” Caleb says with a crooked smile and shows them the plug. Molly’s eyes widen with delight.

“You got a new- Caleb, where did you – “ they start unbelievingly, their tail moves excitedly, then they lick their lips in anticipation.

“Would you move a little for me?”

Caleb’s question has just about left his mouth, as Molly is on their back, hips up in the air and legs spread. Caleb is presented with a beautiful view. He can see their rim, red, swollen and gaping slightly open with specks of oil splattered around it. He would like to just slide in, really. So tempting, so close. He shuts his eyes and reigns his desire in. Caleb settles back on the bed between their legs and nuzzles their inner thigh. Then his hand moves and the plug nudges at Molly’s entrance, making the tiefling sigh and then gasp as the tip starts to breach them. It is more than Caleb’s three fingers, hard and cold. Molly’s breath hitches as the plug settles inside them, snug and heavy. They sigh and adjust the pillow under their head.

 

The wizard reverently traces his hands up and down their thigh, lowering his head to plant kisses onto the sensitive flesh inside and nibbling at it. He sucks a mark right beneath their balls and they clench around the plug, whining.

“Molly, my beautiful Molly. I want to give you everything.” He murmurs against their skin and moves his hands up to their hips.

He strokes circles on the planes of their hips and trails a flat hand over their stomach, up towards their chest. Caleb’s head drops lower and lower, planting kisses over Molly's stomach and happy trail, until he hovers right above Molly’s throbbing cock. It twitches with every heartbeat and Caleb places a sucking kiss right underneath the head.

“Oh fuck!” Molly barks, twitches and feels the plug press into their inner walls. Shocks surge up their spine and shatter coherent thoughts. Caleb continues to lick and kiss their length tenderly.

“Oh fuck, Caleb you will be the death of me!”

“I hope not. Still have plans for tonight. I think I mentioned a main event.” Caleb admonishes them and plants a soft kiss on their shaft.

Both of his hands are now splayed out on their lower belly, massaging and holding the tiefling in place. Molly moans louder and their sounds devolve into pointed whines as Caleb mouth starts to take their length into his mouth. Their hands tangle into his hair and pull, their talons scrape over his scalp as he slowly lowers himself onto them. No suction, just warmth and wetness and his massaging tongue against their sensitive head. One hand comes down to gently squeeze their balls and Molly’s toes curl into the bedsheet, straining to ride the waves of pleasure and not succumb to it. Caleb lets them get used to the sensation before he starts moving, with stroking hands and low moans and hums.

His eyes close and his breathing evens out, shoulders relaxed.

Molly stares down at him, mouth hanging open and their flush reaching from their face down their neck and collarbone, their chest moving with heavy breaths. Caleb sucks them down again, loving the soft skin and heavy weight, how their cock throbs with blood. His tongue rubs against the underside and he drags the flat of it over the sensitive tip. He gets lost in the process, feeling and tasting, bitter, soft, and warm. Warm and smooth like honey. Under his ministrations Molly’s cock starts to fully engage and small ridges start to swell, he prods them with his tongue and moves them slightly, only to hear Molly gasp and curse above him. Under his hands, he feels their abs tremble and harden. He loves how Mollymauk reacts, loves how he makes them feel good.

“Caleb _mhmmm_ Caleb please. I want _hah_ _fu- haaaah_ I want you.”, they whimper between jolts running up their spine as Caleb trails his tongue along their entire cock. He pulls off and takes one of their balls into his mouth, listening to their fast breathing, hand stroking their cock. Then he remembers what they had said and lets their ball slip from his mouth with a wet pop.

“What do you want?” Caleb asks and looks up.

“Want to suck you, please.” Molly says with a strained voice, looking at him pleadingly. Caleb tilts his head in consideration, pursing his lips.

He takes their cock into his mouth in again, bobs his head and drags the full width of his tongue along the underside, pressing into the ridges, eliciting a broken cry from his partner. Their precum tastes mildly bitter and he pulls up to lick and suck at their tip. Molly bucks against his hands and curses before he whines. They let their head fall back and expose their throat.

“Caleb, Caleb, _hah hah,_ Caleb, please, please, please!” they chant, and their hands find his and trail up his arms.

 

With Molly begging, Caleb feels lust prickle down his spine and smirks. He pulls off and looks at the tiefling’s face, taking in the sweat glistening on their forehead and the hair plastered to it, their heaving chest. He dislodges himself from his snug place between their thighs and crawls over them. The tiefling is too shaky to sit up, but eagerly tries and fails. They manage a half sit before the plug in their ass moves and they whine and slump down again.

Caleb guides them to lay down, trailing kisses wherever he can reach and sucks a mark into their neck, before settling over their face. He seats himself to be looking down on Molly’s toned stomach and places his knees to both sides of their head, watching out for their horns. His cock hangs heavy between them and they both wet their lips.

“Everything for you, _Schatz_. Ready?” Caleb whispers and lowers himself by spreading his thighs further.

Molly eagerly opens their mouth and at first contact starts to suck him in. The sensation is so sharp and sweet and unbelievably good that Caleb wants to surge forward and burry himself in their wet heat. He takes controlled breaths, trying to keep calm as Molly is making content noises around his cock, still swallowing him down inch after inch.

Caleb’s mind starts to go fuzzy, he busies himself with the one thing able to occupy him at the moment. He plants kisses and hickeys onto Molly’s stomach, his thighs and hips, anywhere he can reach while moaning and whimpering due to Molly’s heavenly tongue. He licks at their skin and moans, submits to the pleasure and his lover. Their hands have come up to hold him in place, kneading his ass and he finds himself rocking into their mouth with small aborted motions, unable to leave their grasp.

“ _Hmm_ Molly, good _aaaah_ good _mmmmh_.” In response Molly purrs and doubles their effort to suck and swirl around his cock, making Caleb see stars. A deep cry strangles itself from his throat and he has to actively fight for composure, he is on his elbows and straining to not let himself slump onto his lover.

“Molly, Molly, Molly.” Caleb chants and screws his eyes shut, pleasure buzzing in his belly and face pressed into Molly’s soft skin between thigh and hip.

He breathes the smell of lavender and incense, sweat and Molly, and absently starts to suck on their skin, whining. His thoughts lose their focus and he is about to drown in his lust as Molly’s tail comes up to slap his ass, Caleb comes back to himself with a sharp inhale. He pulls out and leans back against the headboard. That was close.

Molly is looking at him with want, Caleb leans down and kisses them with abandon, tasting himself in their mouth and their tongues lap at each other. Their lips tingle with use, swollen and slick and their bodies burn with heat.

“Time for the main event.” The announcement sounds hungry and full of lust.

Molly’s eyes widen and follow Caleb as he situates himself between their spread legs.

 

Slowly, he pulls the plug from their ass and is rewarded with a filthy plop. The vial of oil finds its way into Caleb’s hands and he slicks up his cock, while mouthing at the violet thigh. Molly purrs loudly and strokes their chest, lazily teasing their nipples.

“Ready _Schatz_?”

“Yes, my darling.”

Caleb meets no resistance as he slides inside of his lover, tight heat enveloping him and squeezing his cock into the soft walls around. His nerves flare up and transmit millions of signals to his brain, begging for friction. With his hands firmly gripping Molly’s hips, Caleb glances down at Molly. Their back is arched, and their head thrown to one side, mouth forming a small O. Caleb takes their tail in his hand and kisses the spade tip lovingly before it coils around his forearm.

“Molly, you are breathtaking.” They smile at him lopsidedly and blow him a kiss.

“I love you.” It is the last coherent thing Caleb can utter, then his hips snap into thrusting motions and he is lost. Small breathy _aah_ s, hisses and moans punctuate his ascend towards release, not getting enough of pumping and thrusting into Molly’s tight heat. They convulse around him, beckon him to return and be fast about it. Legs tangle behind his ass and pull him in deeper, each push eliciting a beautiful high noise from his partner.

 

As Caleb starts thrusting, everything in Molly is set alight, makes them jump and arch and moan the name of their lover, their wizard, their miracle. He was doing it so perfectly, slamming their hips together and driving in with abandon. Their core was being shaken with a relentless rhythm, the onslaught to their prostate filling their stomach with pre-orgasmic heat. Molly loses themselves in the moment, the feeling of themselves and Caleb entwined and breathing each other, taking each other.

Their hands fly to the headboard and grip tight as the heat inside builds up to another level.

“Caleb! _Aah aaaah aaaaaah_!!” they scream and gasp.

They are close, they are so fucking close. Caleb surges in for a wet kiss, then he mouths at their neck and they bring their hands to his back. They dig their talons in without a second thought as another wave rides through them.

They manage to keep it together, relishing in the feel and hold on to him. Caleb shudders, his eyes dark and heavy. He keeps on moving in and out, desperate for both their release.

 

“I’m – _hah hah_ \- close Molly _nnnngh_. Where?”

“Inside.” They pant, pressing their legs into his ass and push Caleb home. A few more thrusts, a squeeze of Molly’s tight inside and Caleb is coming with brute force surging through him. Faintly, Molly thinks they register the warm trickle of seed inside themselves, feeling fantastic at the thought of getting filled by their human. Caleb pants and whimpers while driving in as deep as possible.

Then he angles his thrusts and as he hits it straight on, they lose it and _scream_.

_“OH FUCK! CALEB! YES! YES!”_

Caleb keeps pumping and pumping while he rides his out his high and they light up with their overdue orgasm.

They see nothing, only feel the tension within them rip and unfurl, muscles tightening and nerves sizzling with stimulation. Caleb strokes them through their orgasm to elicit even the last waves of pleasure. Deep moans and whines fall from their strained throat as they come down. Tongue limp and legs falling apart as their muscles go lax and they become one with the mattress, boneless and spent all over themselves.

The human is panting above them, then dips down to lick the cum off their stomach. His soft tongue strokes are soothing on their tingling body, Molly feels Caleb still sheathed inside them and they love their human. They close their eyes and concentrate on feeling, feeling the bliss and relieve, softness inside them and wonderful gentleness on them, rewarding Caleb with soft sighs and gentle hands in his hair. Caleb is thorough, kisses the lavender skin and whispers tiny nothings into their belly. After a small eternity of tenderness, he is done, and Caleb pulls out, meeting Molly for a deep kiss.

Caleb crawls atop of them and lowers himself, pressing Molly into the bed the way they like it, with all his glorious weight and warmth. He kisses them wherever he can reach and pulls them in a hug. Molly feels utterly and completely engulfed and protected in this warmth. Happy, fucked out and hidden away by his lover. It is the best.

 

“Uhm, Molly?” Caleb croaks into the silence. Molly’s eyes flutter open, they must have drifted off. Caleb is nuzzling their jawline and his hands run softly over their body.

“Hmm?” Both their voices sound ruined and raw. They can’t help but smile with deep satisfaction. Their eyes find Caleb‘s face.

“You are leaking cum.” Caleb tells them matter-of-factly with a concentrated furrow between his brows. It looks very sweet they decide and kiss him there.

“That happens, my dear.” They say. Caleb shifts his gaze and breathes in.

“May I-ehm – may I?” He trails off and a blush creeps up his neck. They cock their head to the side with a curious look.

“Darling what do you need?” Caleb doesn’t speak for a few moments and instead fidgets with one of their locks, twisting it between his long and talented fingers before gathering up the courage to ask again. Their hands stroke along his sides and feel out his ribs.

“May I put the plug back inside you?”

Molly thinks that they may be too fucked out and not hearing properly.

“Plug me?” Caleb’s flush becomes worse and he hides his face in the crook of their neck.

“Never mind.” He mumbles against their skin.

“No darling, by all means, plug away. Just wanted to make sure I heard that right.” Molly strokes their hands over Caleb’s mutilated back, feeling the traces their claws have dug through his skin.

“Really?”

“Yes, my darling.” They ensure him.

Caleb moves to retrieve the plug from underneath them and gently lifts Molly’s hips for better access. The rim is red, swollen and gaping, leaking with his cum, a picture-perfect debauchery. Molly wiggles his toes in anticipation. They savor the blunt press of the plug as it slides past their sensitive entrance, now sealing Caleb’s cum inside them.

 

Caleb trails kisses up their body before he slips out of bed.

“I’m going to get a wash cloth, don’t worry.” He says and presses a kiss to their forehead.

Looks around for his shirt and ties it around his waist. Molly chuckles, they can see his ass sticking out. Caleb looks at them amusedly and adjusts his improvised skirt. On his way to the door he stokes the fire and vanishes into the corridor. Molly sighs and lays still, reveling in the pleasant tingle of their skin.

They try to track the time while Caleb is gone, listening to the soft crackle of wood and shallow noises from the world behind the door. Their lover is returns with a cloth and warm water. Caleb sits down beside them and gently cleans their belly and thighs. No words are spoken, only kisses traded. Then he scrubs himself down and leaves the cloth on the floor beside their bed. Caleb returns with a water skin and a small package, this time it’s from Molly’s coat. He climbs onto the mattress and kneels beside them, cupping their face.

“Want some water, _Schatz_?” he asks and holds the water skin out to them.

Molly nods and props themselves up on one elbow. Caleb carefully dips the water skin and they drink thirstily. Then he also takes a few gulps and puts it away, leans in to plant a kiss on their forehead.

“My beautiful, glowing and wonderful Mollymauk.” He moves down to the tip of their nose and then leaves a peck on their lips.

Molly smiles into the small kiss, their hand tracing along Caleb’s freckled thigh.

“I’m so happy you came back to me.” Caleb murmurs against their skin and rubs his hands up and down their arms.

“Love you so much.”

 

“Love you too, my darling.” Molly kisses Caleb, sighs happily and lays back down as Caleb moves to lay with them.

Caleb continues his featherlight kissing and stroking, offering them chocolate and more loving words.

“Turn around for me? I would like to massage your back.” He whispers next to their ear and they purr appreciatively.

Slowly they turn and come to lay on their stomach. Caleb settles down across their thighs and drizzles some of the new oil into his hands, warming it up. He starts with one long stroke from the small of their back up to their shoulders, circles into their shoulder blades and trails down their sides. Their purring picks up and they hum at well placed pressure, tail lying flat except for the gently swaying tip.

As much as he dislikes the texture of horn tissue with oil, he loves the feel of oily skin under his hands. Caleb works Molly’s upper back thoroughly before moving lower, finding each straining muscle and working them. Warmth starts to spread through Molly and their mind floats pleasantly as they nibble on some chocolate. After their lower back has been taken care of, Caleb starts massaging their ass, nothing sexual about his motions and the way he kneads their exhausted thighs.

They can’t suppress a shiver and satisfied moan as the plug is nudged and moves in its tight space. It reminds them of Caleb’s seed inside of them, the promises it would hold for someone with a different sex. A small pang of sadness hits Molly and they burrow their nose into the pillow. Sometimes they surprise themselves with their wandering thoughts, but now that it had been realized, Molly can’t stop themselves from thinking down that path.

 

His beloved becomes eerily still underneath his hands and Caleb looks up to check on Molly. Their face is hidden, and their breath comes even. Caleb files it away and finishes his massage with a few more languid strokes before moving off Molly and grabbing the blankets. He settles down next to them and pulls the blankets over both of them, kissing Molly’s shoulder and snuggling closer.

“ _Schatz_? Everything alright? You asleep?” he asks them as they don’t budge and tries to keep his need for touch after sex to a minimum.

Maybe they are oversensitive from the massage and the sex altogether. Another moment of silence passes, and Caleb starts to worry, the fear of rejection and loneliness rising up in his throat. He knows that he exaggerates moments like these, feels them draw out longer than they actually are. Spooks himself with dark thoughts.

“ _Schatz_? Molly?” They don’t answer. His head starts to swim, he can’t breathe and his skin crawls.

Did he do something wrong and was now being punished for that?

Caleb makes a strained noise in the back of his throat and tries to breathe. He imagines this, he trusts them, they are probably just tired after the sex, he can understand.

He doesn’t need to fear, but he still can’t seem to get air into his lungs and struggles even harder, eyes fixed on Molly.

A spell seems to have been broken, red eyes blink at him and he is finally able to suck a breath into his burning lungs. Molly moves closer to him, eyes wide and face alert.

“Caleb, love, breathe with me, in….hold….out. So sorry, Caleb, I was a little lost in thought.” They say and caress his cheeks with slow strokes.

“I’m here, darling, don’t worry. Just felt so good what you did there, good boy.” They coo, and Caleb feels the tension bleed from his body and breathes.

Molly tangles their fingers with his and pulls his hand up to their mouth, kissing each knuckle before moving on to the inside of his hand.

“Thank you so much for taking care of me, my darling. It was absolutely wonderful.”, they speak into his skin and close their eyes once again to relish the feel on their lips.

Caleb presses his forehead against theirs. Breathes.

“I love you, Caleb. Love you so much.” They whisper and Caleb’s laughs, his insides swirl with happiness and he scoots closer.

Molly wraps him up in their arms and moves to partially lay on top of him, the pressure is calming. Caleb sinks into a less alert state and feels how his muscles start to relax. Molly still loves Caleb and cuddles him, so everything is alright. He closes his eyes and buries his nose into Molly’s hair.

 

 ------

 

The tiny sniff almost escapes his attention, but something strikes Caleb as off and he drifts back to the surface of his half-slumber. He hears it again, close and pressed into his hand, still held by Molly.

“Molly?” he struggles to be awake and leans in towards his lover, his other hand coming up to caress their shoulder.

“Hey Molly, _was ist los_?” His brain seems to have lost its grasp on Common for the moment, so he rolls with it and instead of saying anything else presses tiny kisses to the crown of their head.

Their hair smells of lavender. Small breaths hit his hand and he can feel their shoulders shaking lightly. Now he is definitely awake and worried.

“Molly, _Schatz_. Please, talk to me.”

Molly’s eyes are soft and open, their smile mingles with something close to sadness.

“Caleb- you-“ they choke, snuggle into him and sniff once more.

“You are so wonderful, and I am so happy with you. I am incredibly happy and lucky that you returned for me, that you feel the same as me. I don’t know what I did during my past lives to deserve ending up here with you.” The words spill from them, it feels like they are being chased by something far bigger, making its way to the surface.

“I love you, I love you so, so much. And I’m so sorry that I – that I” Molly struggles to get the words out there, to relieve themselves of the cold spikes stabbing in the back of their throat.

They know that saying it out loud and to have Caleb break it down for them will help them. But it is still a massive struggle, thoughts crisscrossing, embarrassment and sorrow tangling up their tongue. Caleb waits for them to say it, his hand cups their face and his thumb runs over their cheek repeatedly.

“That I-“ they try once more and lock their eyes with his.

His face is beautiful, blue eyes and strong nose, red stubble and hair the color of late autumn leaves. His brain remembering everything and quick to find a solution, all the same emotional, loving and a bit of a mess. Gentle voice and low grumble, when he is only half awake. All of this should be passed on, they think.

“I’m so sorry.” Molly says through tears pressing into their eyes and casts down their glance.

“Molly, _Schatz_ , _Liebling_. What is happening? Please, tell me if you are able to. You worry me.” Caleb sounds indeed very worried and they feel anger at themselves for making him feel like that.

Molly whinces internally. They had just calmed him down. Right after they had almost made him break down from fear of abandonment after that amazing sex. That was not how they usually handled themselves, Caleb needed and trusted them to be calm and in their right mind. Molly breathes in deep. Forcing their mind to go quiet for a split second they manage to say what is on their mind.

“I’m sorry that I can’t bear children.”

Now that it is out in the open they find it all bubbling up and rushing over their lips.

“I really want to have kids, your kids. Thousands of them and I would love each one of them to the death. They’d have ginger hair and be smart as hell, and oh a small tiefling daughter. Tiny horns and tiny tails, I- I can’t stop myself from imagining, Caleb. But here I am in a body without the right – fuck- _equipment_ to do so. And it makes me sad and a little angry. I don’t want to be angry in this body, it is mine and it is a good one, but-but still I want so much –“ They find Caleb’s face and see him staring at them with eyes wide.

Their voice runs dry and they smile at him crookedly.

 

It is nothing that he had expected, and Caleb is so stunned and overwhelmed with their sentiments. His brain chews on itself and spits pictures at him that are downright fantastical, of Molly with swelling belly and a deeply happy smile lighting up their face, of them cradling THEIR baby and cooing over it, surrounded by laughing children. He blinks those pictures away and rubs his fingers over their skin, smoothing out the crinkles in his thoughts to put the right words together.

“I feel the same, Molly. I want us to have children. And I know they would be wonderful, half me and half you, colorful and bright. I-I would really like that.” They sniff with a sad smile on their face and he tilts their chin up to kiss it away, slowly and tenderly.

The kiss ends, and he looks into their eyes to make sure every word he is now going to say is being received and understood.

“But you are you, your body and your mind and every little detail that makes you _my_ Molly. It would be amazing to have kids, but I don’t want you to think that you’re not perfect to me because of that. You are a beautiful person, my love and my anchor. You are perfect the way you are, and I love you with everything that I have. I want you to be happy.”

A sob works its way up Molly’s throat and they let it fall into the silence, the tears running freely. Caleb’s hand runs up and down their back, his other hand is close to their face and wipes the tears away as they fall. They shift and press a wet kiss to his mouth, unable to find words to carry their feelings for this man.

 

“Love you too.” They whisper and kiss the corner of Caleb’s mouth, quirked up to a smile.

His hand snakes up to massage the back of their neck.

“You know, who is to say that we can’t have children of our own?” Molly furrows their brow.

“I mean- they don’t need to- to ah share our blood to be family! Jester, Fjord, Yasha, Beau and Nott, they’re all family, right? Nosey and unbearable at times, but family.” Caleb explains with a sparkle in his eyes and Molly’s lips twitch into a smile.

“So maybe” he starts to pull them onto a tight hug as his gaze shifts to the ceiling.

They follow without second thought and tuck their head under his chin, mindful of their horns.

“Maybe we will someday find a small sweetling in need of a loving tiefling parent –“

“Mommy.” Molly perks up and taps a claw on his chest to make their point.

“Thank you darling for neutral terms, but I want to be the mommy. No discussion.”

Caleb laughs and nods.

 

“A loving tiefling _mama_ and a loving human _papa_ , who will go absolute apeshit at the first sorry soul to come around and ask for a date with their sweetling, no matter how nice or handsome aunt Jester thinks they are!”

He huffs and feels Molly giggle into the crook of his neck.

“You will be a fearsome _papa_ , Caleb dear.” They muse and throw their leg over his hip to cuddle him closer.

Silence settles over them, Molly listens to Caleb’s breathing and soothes themselves with the feeling of his heartbeat beneath their fingertips. They feel soft kisses being pressed onto the crown of their head and Caleb holding them close, tugging the blanket in around them. The fire has subsided to gently glowing ambers, and their eyes shift to the two remaining candles illuminating the room. Then they vanish into darkness at a wave of Caleb’s hand.

“Good night, _Schatz_. _Träum_ _schön_.”

“Sweet dreams, my love.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly withdraws because they think that their body is insufficient for Caleb and their own desires and spiral themselves into negative thoughts.  
> Caleb has an anxiety attack and fear of abandonment as Molly doesn't respond to his words and fears he may have done something wrong.
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Leaving a comment or kudos will make me dance and sing in the rain!


	3. Banshee Song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone leaving comments and kudos! 
> 
> Starting with this chapter I will be using he/him for Molly as pronouns.   
> Enjoy!

Early light creeps in slowly through the curtains and they both ignore it in favor of turning over once more and some cuddling. The hours creep by, filled with lazy kisses and touches, skin rubbing against skin, their scents mingling with each other and they feel like one being, joined and tangled mind and limbs. No words break the silence, their sighs so soft they are lost in the occasional rustle of sheets and the flick of a tongue. Caleb rubs slow circles into Molly’s lower belly and enjoys his talons in his hair, combing and scraping softly through the ginger mess.

Their feet are tangled, eyes closed, nose brushing nose. He drifts off to sleep again, mind blank and quiet with Molly’s tail coiled around his ankle. The next time he wakes up is to softly squish Molly in his arms as he presses his back to Caleb’s chest. Molly stretches like Frumpkin until his spine pops and he yawns. Caleb chuckles and it is the first vocal sound of the morning, it lifts the veil and they both giggle and laugh, Molly running his hands through Caleb’s arms and leaning his head back against his shoulder.

“Good morning, love.” He says with a warm smile and Caleb kisses down his jawline.

“ _Guten Morgen, Liebling_.”

Molly purrs, then he squirms and grips Caleb by the hip. He flips him onto his back, Caleb yelping in surprise as his lazy morning suddenly feels more heated with Molly straddling him.

“I can’t stop thinking about how good you made me scream last night. The whole inn must have heard how you ruined me for everyone else.” Molly snickers, running his talons through the hair on Caleb’s chest and stomach.

Caleb’s breathing picks up and he wets his lips in anticipation.

“I think you deserve a reward. Relax.” Molly says the last word with a drawn out raspy vocal and lowers himself onto the ginger’s chest.

His skin brushes his nipples as eh move forward to give him a sensual kiss, hands coming up to grip Caleb’s shoulders. He presses Caleb into the mattress and winks at him, before crawling down until he is kneeling between Caleb’s spread thighs. Molly goes slow, he administers tender and small kisses and nibbles down Caleb’s front and onto his ticklish bits, mouth brushing over his half hard cock and nudging at his thighs with his nose. Caleb balls his fists into the bedding, eyes glued to Mollymauk’s lips.

The tiefling brushes his nose along the length and hums, before his eyes come up to Caleb’s and he licks his cock just underneath the head. Caleb jumps and gasps. And then Molly takes him in his hand, lifting his cock up for better access. Molly tangles one hand with Caleb’s and squeezes it lightly before licking over his lover’s length. His tongue snakes out of his mouth, he applies long swipes to the soft skin and Caleb twitches and moans.

Molly runs hot, and his tongue is even hotter, wet and with a nice texture. Caleb’s cock is swelling with the attention it receives and Molly chases after it with sucking kisses until it is fully erect. The human is panting frantically, and his chest and cheeks are tinged red. He is a puddle in Molly’s arms, muscles relaxed, and eyes closed in pleasure. Molly sneaks the tip of his tail into Caleb’s free hand and Caleb starts to squeeze and rub the soft cartilage, making him hum against his cock.

As he starts to pay closer attention to the tip of it Caleb whines and throws his head back, hips surging up in an aborted thrust. It’s time to establish some rules, Molly reckons, crawls over Caleb and takes his mouth in a passionate kiss, Caleb responding wonderfully. Molly pulls away for air and he tries to follow his mouth, but a lavender hand comes down onto his shoulder. Then Molly leans closer to whisper into his ear.

“Do you want to play a little, darling?”

Caleb sucks the air through his teeth and tenses shortly before he nods vigorously. Molly smiles and kisses the tip of his nose.

“Alright, I want you to hold still while I pleasure you, love. Understood?”

“Yes.” Caleb breaths quietly and his cock bobs against Molly’s stomach, making Caleb’s excitement apparent.

“And you will tell me as soon as you’re close.”

“Yes, Mollymauk.”

“If you can’t speak, squeeze my hand once for when you’re close. If you need to stop, what do you say?”

“Fire. And if I can’t speak I’ll squeeze your hand and tail at once.” Caleb says confidently. Molly rewards him with a kiss.

He looks into Caleb’s wide blown pupils and presses their mouths together, now with heat. His wizard is so delicious, so wonderful. He whines and licks into his mouth, Caleb is flushed a deep red as Molly pulls back again.

 

“Good boy.” Molly says with a growl and goes down again. His head feels dizzy from the power and submission his partner is entrusting him with.

Molly gets back to it and swipes his tongue up the wizard’s length once again, savoring the bitter precum and kissing the velvety tip. The broad of Molly’s tongue swipes over the sensitive part and Caleb’s breath hitches, muscles working to keep still. Molly smiles, he eyes him for a short moment, then sucks him down with a loud sound and goes all the way.

He opens his throat and swallows around Caleb’s cock, his cries addictive. Up and down again. The rhythm is slow and deliberate, Molly massages his tongue along the underside of it and gives light suction when nearing the head. His teeth are hidden behind his lips and he strokes small circles on the back of Caleb’s hand with his thumb. Caleb is moaning open mouthed, eyes squeezed shut and trembling.

“Good, Mollymauk, so good. More, please, please more.” His hips make a short abortive thrust and Molly pulls off.

Caleb whines low in his throat and pleading eyes search for Molly’s red ones. He look at him with a stern face and sit up.

“What did I say Caleb?”

“Don’t….don’t move. I’m sorry, Mollymauk.” The tiefling nods.

“It is forgiven, darling. Next time I will have to punish you though, understood?”

Caleb’s pupils dilate, and he nods.

“Words, darling.”

“Yes, Mollymauk.”

Molly starts working faster, relishing in Caleb’s small cries and pleas, happy to have him at his mercy and shaking with restraint. Molly’s free hand comes down to fondle with his balls and he hollows his cheeks out to give Caleb more stimulation, his own cock growing hard for his good submissive.

The wizard squeezes Molly’s tail and pants, eyes unfocused and with a slight sheen of sweat on his brow.

“Molly.” He moans, and the name drops from his mouth like prayers.

“Molly, Mol-ly, Mmmol-ly.” Warmth starts to spread in his stomach, his muscles relax despite the coursing sparks in his blood, and his mind goes fuzzy except for Molly’s commands.

_Do not move – tell me when you’re close_.

Everything else shatters and drops away to a pleasant white static and the feel of Molly’s skin in his hands and Molly’s mouth on his cock and his warmth between his thighs. Caleb’s moans become softer and quieter, the sensations running up his spine make him float and he feels like he is about to melt into the mattress.

_Do not move_.

Yes, he will be good

_Tell me when you’re close_.

Yes, he will be good.

Good for Molly, to be praised and loved and held by Molly. Caleb feels his orgasm brooding in his stomach, the warmth increases, and he squeezes Molly’s hand, tries to form words in his throat but fails and tries a second time. His voice is lost to the static and he wants himself to fall into it as well, be enveloped by the warmth and Molly, only Molly. But he needs to obey his commands.

_Do not move – tell me when you’re close._

He needs to tell him. He is close.

 

Mollymauk notices as Caleb slips away into sub space, growing quiet and relaxed, fingers twitching occasionally. He keeps going and bops his head up and down, relishing in the feel of Caleb’s cock. It’s longer than his, he loves having it inside of him. Molly loves sucking and licking at the tip and to have that smooth skin against his tongue and he loves to prod against the slit and creases underneath it with his twin prongs. A small squeeze. Molly pulls off and spits into his left hand before stroking Caleb’s cock.

“Caleb, darling, you’re close? Hand yes, tail no” Caleb squeezes Molly’s hand.

“Good boy. Now let’s make it good for you. Come for me, my darling.” Molly smiles, then takes Caleb back into his mouth.

 

Caleb is happy. He obeyed Molly, he called him a good boy. The static comes closer and he has permission to sink into it, warmth all around him and lavender smell. He lets out a shuddering breath and plunges in.

 

Molly seals his mouth around Caleb’s cock and sucks. He comes hard into Molly’s mouth while the tiefling strokes him through the orgasm, his hips still plastered to the mattress and a tight scream boils up in his chest. Molly swallows his seed down, greedy for it and feels himself draw close, untouched. Caleb’s desperate panting wails and the way that he is _still not moving_ drives Molly over the edge. Caleb is so good for him, so obeying and sweet. He trusts Molly with that much power over him.

Molly comes, Caleb still twitching in his mouth, his hips now steadied in Molly’s vicelike grip. He pants and drools on Caleb’s cock as his release crashes over him like a big wave. As Molly comes back to himself, he lets Caleb’s cock fall from his mouth as it grows soft and small.

“Holy fuck.” Molly gasps with his head hung low. He sits back on his heels, looking down at Caleb, his hips covered in Molly’s cum. For a moment, he pauses to catch his breath, then Molly slides into aftercare.

“Oh fuck, Caleb, you were so good for me.” He squeezes his hand and grabs at the floor for the cloth Caleb used the night before to clean Molly up. He gently pats at Caleb’s hips and thighs with the clean side, never letting go of his hand. As soon as he is cleaned up, Molly moves over his body, stroking tenderly with one hand and kissing every freckle that he manages to find.

Molly crawls atop Caleb, pressing down on him and bringing the blankets with him. Drool is leaking from the corner of Caleb’s open mouth, Molly kisses it away and nuzzles his neck and cheek, purring loud and intense.

“So wonderful Caleb, only for me. Love you so much.” Molly whispers between kisses.

His eyes are still unfocused, but after a few more kisses and cuddles he lightly squeezes Molly’s hand and breaths deeper.

The tiefling keeps on praising him and purring, kissing him slowly and chaste. His mouth twitches into a small smile and blue eyes begin to clear, following Molly’s movements as he fetches the water skin from the bedside table and offers it to Caleb. He drinks a little bit, then resumes watching Molly with soft eyes. His other hand rubs the tip of his tail and Molly thinks that he might explode because of the feelings filling him up.

He feels weightless, he is happy, and his insides fizzle pleasantly, and Molly really wants to wiggle his hips, but refrains from that. He doesn’t want to change his position.

“So good, my love. My sweet submissive. Perfect mate, good boy.” He purrs and get the distinct feeling that he is babbling due to his high, so he resumes kissing the human. After some time, Caleb starts to kiss back, and Molly can’t get enough of it, licking into Caleb’s mouth, biting his lips, and having the same done to himself makes him fall in love all over again.

“I love you.” He says as Caleb snakes an arm around Molly and the other comes up to his neck, pulling the tiefling down for a kiss. Caleb kisses him until his air runs out, then he looks at Molly lovingly and just smiles.

Caleb stays non-verbal for half an hour of snuggling and just traces Molly’s tattoos with his index finger, over and over. Molly is determined to kiss his mouth raw on this beautiful human and map out his face while he pursues his goal. Molly offers him the remainder of their chocolate and more water as time creeps by, playing with his copper hair and smoothing his hand over Caleb’s stubble.

Finally Caleb opens his mouth and sighs happily. His voice is rough.

“I saw a bookshop yesterday.” He begins and rubs his thumb along Molly’s bottom lip.

“And you want to have a look, I guess. See if there is anything interesting?” He asks him with a small smile

“Yes, what will you do today?” Caleb gently pulls Molly’s lip down and exposes sharp teeth. The tiefling licks his finger and playfully tries to bite it while the human laughs.

“Thought of maybe running some old routines to get back into training. I plan on doing a street performance.” Molly chases after his hand, but he pull it out of reach, so Molly pouts before he speaks again.

“So, as soon as you are done with book shopping and most likely weighed down by your purchases-“ Molly smooches Caleb’s cheek.

“-then come and find the biggest crowd in town and let me help you carry them back to the tavern. Deal?”

Caleb brings his hand back up to Molly’s mouth and lifts his upper lip until he is able to see his left canine unobscured. Molly feels a little weird, like a dog being handled by a small child, but accepts it. He still snap his teeth shut with a sharp sound, then catch Caleb’s hand as he pulls away. Molly licks a broad stripe from hand to forearm and growls.

“Mine now.”

 

Breakfast is a simple affair, Molly and Caleb are the last ones to arrive downstairs, the rest of the group, including Frumpkin, is already happily munching down their food. The cat has settled into Beauregard’s lap, and she seems more or less surprised and at the same time uncaring about it. She absentmindedly pats Frumpkin’s head and sips on her breakfast ale.

The halflings dish out warm porridge with berries and cinnamon that Fjord, to everyone’s surprise, basically inhales. Yasha leaves them for a walk, Caleb and Nott get up to find the bookshop and do some “shopping” for the little goblin, who brings up her disguise underneath the table. Both Yasha and Caleb press a soft kiss on top of Molly’s head before stepping away. Jester pesters Fjord to accompany her to the general store but is politely declined. Fjord and Beau plan on gathering intel for another mission that should stock up the group’s gold pile.

As Jester asks where they had acquired the mission, Beau tells her that they had been chatted up last night by a man at the bar. After everyone else had already left. Their informant would meet them again in an hour and therefore Beau and Fjord intended to be at the tavern. It seemed like Molly was to be the one in charge of entertaining Jester. But apparently  she had made up her mind and hops out of the tavern without a second glance. Therefore Molly digs out his tapestry and walks out the door to pursue his own business.

Those last months since his resurrection were used for travelling, generally living and acquiring something he had very much wanted. Circus skills. Molly had cobbled together a performance that he had practiced since he got his new scimitars, and one needed to practice or else skills grow rusty.

He deems a space between two market stands to be passable for what he wants to do. Molly rolls out his tapestry of Bahamut and checks his make-up in a small mirror shard. Warm-up comes natural to Molly now, he bends and warps himself into different positions and feels tendons stretch and muscles coil. As a light sweat breaks out on his brow, he decides that this was enough warming up and checks himself over one last time. Then Molly spins around, smiles from one ear to the other and starts to address the crowd with loud remarks.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Have you ever seen a demon dancing with death, boiling blood from hell’s deepest realms wrapped in a whirl of singing steel?” His voice loses its softness and gentle tone, it booms across the market place.

People come to a stuttering halt and look at him with surprised faces.

“A spectacle to chill the blood and let your eyes grow unbelieving!” Molly continues.

Some of his spectators start moving again, others throw him passing glances, most trudge on. The children are easier to entice, pointing at the tiefling and are consequently dragged on by their parents. It is like the beginning of any phenomenal performance Molly has ever done. So far it had been four. The crowd always wants a sample upfront to see whether he was worth the time to stop and stare.

Molly paces in front of his gear and continues to shout.

“I am the fabulous Mollymauk Tealeaf, circus performer and master acrobatic. I have achieved excellency in swordsmanship. I wield my swords so fast that your eyes will not be able to follow, and my dance will entice the banshee herself, her wails filling your ears and nightmares!” He drops his voice to a dramatic low growl, waving his arms in a wide motion.

Molly’s scimitars are in their sheaths, crossed behind his back. Molly grips the handles, slides his wrists through the silken loops and takes a stance, head bowed. He becomes absolutely motionless. Then he starts to draw the swords slowly and the clear sound of them being pulled makes some more people stop and stare. Then, with a fast swish, Molly brings the swords horizontally in front of him, brandishing their broad side, one arm over his head and one by his hips.

The airflow whistles through the holes in the blades and makes them sing. It is too fast for the unprepared eye and Molly hears surprised whispers as he becomes stone again, hovering in his pose. Then again, he moves his arms, draw both swords up to the sky, crossing them and down again, the change of angles altering the song and tune. With his arms down on both sides he lifts up his head and smiles at the audience.

Without visibly using his arms the scimitars start to rotate in his hands, wrists working the silk fastenings and their tune becomes high-pitched and screeching. Molly crosses his arms and the swords follow, deathly arches and screams, the people closest to them back up. Up over his head he brings the scimitars and then takes one step and another. Brings them down again and spin.

Molly grips the handles and brings his swords to an abrupt halt. Freezes again in his pose.

The swords whisper as they slowly weave around Molly’s body and tell about the banshee, how her song made her lonely and spiteful. Such sweet song, such good tunes but no one to hear and compliment her. She shrieks in frustration but there is no living soul to be found she could use her song and cries for. The shriek quiets down into a low wailing, hitched by breaths and gasps.

Sweat begins to bead on Molly’s skin as he moves onto the second part of his story, swords whirling around him and folding inwards and back out like flower petals. By now each sword sings a different harmony, their voices melting together once and then clashing again. A high jump into the air, a long sweep and the banshee cries sickeningly as she tears herself away from her solitude and starts to search for a soul to comfort her and love her song. She searches every rock, bush, house and patch of sky on her path, but the birds grow quiet as she nears, and the humans flee. Then she finds one that doesn’t.

Her cries go shrill with joy and she rushes towards the child, holding it up in her arms and sings her best tremolo, voice reverberating in the air like thunder. Now she has found a new family, she will use her song for the child.

Molly swings his swords high above his head and swirl them in horizontal arcs, blurring steel and edge. The banshee holds the child close, crying her piercing aria. And the child smiles at her. The banshee’s shriek dies down as it pats her cheek, still smiling. And then warmth cracks open the tight bindings around her heart and her voice becomes sweet and soothing, the jarring pitch is lost. Molly begins to descend into a crouching position, swords moving slowly and smooth to map out the last of his story, as the banshee sings for the deaf child until her voice breaks and she becomes the woman she had been before. At end the performance, Molly brings the swords down on both sides and lowers his head again.

 

His chest is heaving with heavy pants and sweat drips down from the tip of his nose. Hair is stuck to the back of Molly’s neck and the shirt itches in places. The first thing he sees, as he lifts his head with a performance smile, is a child with open mouth and lollipop fallen to the ground. Its eyes are staring and as Molly moves his gaze further up, the grown-ups aren’t any different. Molly jumps up from his position, artistically whips his swords through the air one last time and sheath them before bowing in a flourish. The crowd begins to clap and cheer, coins drop to the ground in front of Molly and he bows some more.

“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, this was _The Song of The Banshee_! Performed by the marvelous Mollymauk Tealeaf!” Molly shouts over the noise and dissolving audience.

People move on and children run off to tell someone about the awesome spectacle they just witnessed, Molly is sure about that. With a confident smile they collect the coin, a total of five gold, seven silver and four copper, before he notices some people did not leave. His eyes dart to the pair still standing to the side of his improvised stage, one smiling very brightly, the other one rather somber and calm.

“Moooolllyyyy.” Jester starts to croon and jumps closer.

“That was absolutely amazing!” She hops up and down, her tail whipping in the air with sharp sounds and her skirts billow.

“Well, thank you darling. I’m glad that you liked it!” Molly smiles and turns around to stow the coin in his purse.

“Are you going to do any other performances today?” Jester eyes his equipment and picks up two of five colorful balls. Molly picks up the remaining three and starts juggling.

“Maybe, only need to decide on what kind of performance.” The balls fly in the air with graceful arches and Jester watches closely.

Then she tries to mimic Molly’s movements and throws her balls into the air. Yasha catches one before it smacks her in the face, the other comes down like a dead bird. Molly snickers and throws his balls into the air, twist and catch, he resumes the pattern. Jester’s eyes grow big and she accepts the ball back from Yasha.

“All this time of travelling together and you still want to learn from the carnival people.” Molly smiles brightly and throws Jester one ball. She catches it deftly and rolls it in her hands.

“Oh, you know, I’m often a little busy with the Traveler and stuff, but I still love to see you perform and I want to look just as beautiful!”

“I’m sure you will. I mean, I only learned these things after I-“

“Yeah, whatever, now show me the ropes you carnival person.” Jester interrupts Molly and throws the balls back up in the air.

“Try less force at first. There’s time for faster and higher later.” The Aasimar advises her softly and steps back.

 

Nott and Caleb wander the dusty streets and soon find the bookshop. It is closed, a small sign telling them to come again past noon, as the owner is currently out running business elsewhere. Nott tugs on the sleeve of Caleb’s coat and they move on towards shops with the potential for shinies inside. They come by one that specializes in crystals and glass work and walk inside. Shelves line the walls and are stuffed with delicate glass work. There are decorative items like small leaves or plants made of colorful glass and elaborately designed to look stunningly real.

Figurines of animals and humanoids follow Caleb with their eyes as he walks by, smiling at a red cat with fierce green eyes. As soon as he moves away from the decorative items he gets to look at some more practical things. The person creating these fine glass works clearly knew their craft, there were quills made out of white glass to resemble brushes or feathers. Some large glass cubes were labelled as paperweights and Caleb found one set of mortar and pestle made of glass. All the smooth surfaces and glossiness made his heart jump and he had to keep from dragging his fingers over every surface in the shop.

Nott meanwhile had strayed over to a shelve containing vials, bottles and cups. They were all tinged in some solid color and intricate designs had been carved into them, resembling vines, waves or stars. Next to them were crystals, formed in the shape of tear drops, hearts or simple balls. Their surface was smooth, but something broke the light inside of them and they lit up the whole store with dancing flashes of rainbow light. The small goblin was utterly transfixed by them and stumbled closer, taking a small teardrop in her paws and holding it up against the light.

Caleb is getting concerned that they are still alone in this store, so he looks around and tries to find the owner. If Nott wants to do some shopping, then he has to distract them. But he still can’t find any signs of another creature. As he wanders deeper into the shop Caleb stumbles upon glass jewelry.

Beads and more beads are filling bowls and cups. Some are as tiny as pepper corns and others are as big as a chestnut. They are each unique, some milky, some colorful and others transparent. With swirls inside them, dotted or spiked on the outside. A sign declares that each bowl is filled with beads of a certain price. If the price of the beads selected surpasses four silver in total, the leather band would be given for free.

“Nott.” Caleb whispers and she moves up behind him and eyes the bowls.

She starts to dig into it, meticulously studying each glass ball she lifts up and sets a stash of favorites aside. Caleb himself examines the medium sized beads. One looks like a piece of the night sky has been captured inside, the other one that catches his eye is smaller and flattened. It is dazzling blue with gold sparkles and as he turns it in his hands, it changes to violet and red. He sets them down next to Nott’s stash.

Then Caleb moves further down to rings and bracelets, they are beautiful and intricate, though not as fine as some metal jewelry he has seen before. The decorations upfront had been wonderfully delicate, but glass was probably too brittle as to be used in the same manner for jewelry as for decoration, which would only be set onto a mantlepiece at most.

He imagines that Molly would not wear glass on his horns, trying to make them fit snuggly would break the adornment, he guesses. Maybe a necklace or bracelet. Or he could hang some of those beads around his horns. Caleb ponders about bringing the tiefling to this store, nibbling on his thumb.

“I gather you have interest in my wares?” A quiet voice sounds from behind them and Nott practically throws the beads she was holding up into the air.

She screams and tries to wrestle her crossbow free as a rain of glass comes down around her. Caleb on the other hand jumps and turns around with hands outstretched and a spell on the tip of his tongue.

The figure behind them is tall and thin, their skin light grey and deep shadows underlie their eyes. Blood red irises peer from behind a pair of glasses and a sharp widows peak contrasts with the receding edges of disheveled gray hair. He wears a high collared jerkin and a dark long-sleeved shirt. The face has hollow cheeks and a strong nose resembling a beak.

 

“May I help you?” He asks Caleb and Nott.

Though he seems to have been lurking in the shadows somewhere and his appearance is anything but cheerful, his voice carries friendliness and interest. A small part in Caleb twists and he smiles at the man.

“Ah that would be nice, ja.”

“Ja? You’re Zemnian?” The store owner smiles back at him and folds his hands, he has long pointy nails, they could be talons.

Nott’s eyes dart all over the man and she scrunches up her nose.

“I am.” Caleb replies and watches him quizzically.

The man stares back, then flinches with realization.

“Oh! No, I’m not Zemnian. Just happen to know the language. I am Regis by the way.”

Caleb smiles at the man, he likes him. He has a warm aura and carries himself with calmness.

“Hallo, we are- “

“We’re going.”

Nott intercepts before Caleb is able to say anything further and grabs his sleeve. She drags him into the front part of the store.

“But Nott, wait. I just wanted to-“ Caleb tries to coax her into staying, he doesn’t want to be rude to Regis and wants to talk more with him, buy some beads.

“No, Caleb! We really need to go, you didn’t feed Frumpkin, so Frumpkin is hungry! You know he gets really angry if he is hungry.” She shrieks at him and pulls more forcefully. Caleb throws one last glance at Regis, still standing in the shadows he had appeared from, and stumbles out onto the street. The door falls closed behind them and he looks down at Nott.

“Something was fishy with the guy.” She replies with eyes moving quickly.

“Nobody sneaks up on me like that. Or appears out of nowhere.”

“You might have been just very distracted, _Liebling_. Did we really need to leave?” The human turns back to the store front and sees Regis standing by the window, watching them intently.

Nott hisses.

 

The door slowly swings open and a pale hand emerges into the open. Then Regis steps out onto the street and inhales deeply.

“Lovely day.” He smiles and sinks down into a crouch, his gaze trained onto Nott.

“Well little lady, you seem to be awfully perceptive. I would hazard a guess that you have a rough idea regarding my true nature?” Regis cocks his head and his red eyes scan the goblin up and down.

Nott scrunches her nose again and hisses.

“Do rest assured that I am not some lowlife to harm my clientele. If you would like to continue your shopping, I would in fact be very pleased to welcome you back inside. You have my word that I won’t do anything-“

His eyes crinkle at the edges with a smile.

“-fishy.”

“I don’t think so, we are going to leave now.” Nott states firmly.

Regis seems to be deflating somewhat and he rubs his hands together.

“Don’t you think that I just want to meet new people and maybe sell some of my wares, little goblin?” Now it is Caleb’s turn to flinch and look at Regis more closely.

How could he see through Notts disguise so easily?

“She is not a goblin, she is a halfling.” He states with eyes trained onto Regis’ face to catch any small twitch or telltale sign. Regis looks up at him, then back down at Nott.

“If you say so. Maybe you would be interested in this fine object?” He takes the glasses off his nose and holds them out to Caleb.

He takes them and turns them over, then puts them onto his nose. Everything looks normal around him, Regis is still Regis and the store looks the same. His gaze wanders lower towards Nott and is greeted with her goblin face and large ears. Caleb’s eyes widen, he takes the glasses off, and Nott is a halfling girl again. Regis clears his throat and holds out a hand to take back his glasses.

“Now that I know a secret of yours, maybe you want to know one of mine?” He offers, wiping the lenses clean on his shimmery black jerkin.

“I don’t eat people. You are safe with me.”

“You tried to charm Caleb in there.” Nott accuses Regis with a sharp glare.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice!”

Regis lets his head sink.

“That is something I can’t help, just like you need to breathe. All the time.” He says and slips his hands inside his pockets.

“What is going on?” Caleb has really had enough of being left out of this conversation. He looks at Regis with his very interesting pair of glasses and overall appearance and looks at Nott, who is shifting from one foot to another. Regis inhales deeply.

“Your friend seems to have noticed that I am not a creature of this plane, and she is currently trying to protect you from me. I am, as people have come to call us, a vampyr.” He admits in broad daylight.

“And in regards of recent events, I don’t think that you will ever set foot into my store again, which makes me quite sad in regards of lost business. But, I would very much appreciate the two of you to refrain from making my identity publicly known to anybody.” Caleb doesn’t hear anything that Regis says.

His mind goes blank at the mention of vampyr and his memory revises everything he’s ever read about them, their abilities and their history.

“A real vampyr?” He breaths and steps closer.

“How old are you? What class? You do not seem to be one of the lesser vampyr, maybe you are one of the highborn?” The questions drop from his mouth and unconsciously Caleb steps closer again, but Nott pulls on his pant leg.

Regis looks at him with new interest and the anticipation of indulging in a conversation.

“You seem to have a good grasp on the matter, Caleb. Which books did you read to acquire the knowledge?”

“I once got my hands on a copy of Bestiaries Nobilis, I got through higher demonology, further conjuration of fiendish beings and planes walking creatures. I also have read the deeper theories of Morbus Strenger on higher vampyrs in comparison to lesser vampyrs. And also-“ Caleb stops and blushes.

His notion to suck up wisdom and distribute it to the willing has reared its head, and he almost vibrates at the prospect of having a discourse with a being of such reputation and knowledge as Regis. Nott is making strangled noises and pulls even stronger on his pant leg. Regis notices and smiles at Caleb.

“I think your friend doesn’t like the idea of me being near you. I would have really liked to converse with you about the topic of higher fiendish beings, but I would loathe to put your friend into any position of discomfort. You should be very proud of her, nonetheless. She has a sharp wit.” He smiles toothily at Nott and reveals his fangs by doing so.

“Maybe-ah maybe we can meet sometime in our tavern? With my-my companions there? Would that be alright, Nott?” Caleb asks his goblin friend. Nott stops struggling against his leg and looks at him with concern in her eyes.

“He is dangerous Caleb, you can’t trust him!”

“That I am.” Regis admits and then goes on.

“But only if I choose to be. If you want to, I will give you an advantage. I will be waiting here in front of my store the day after tomorrow, same time as now. If you still want to talk with me, then come. We will go somewhere public. I promise that nothing will happen to Caleb or anyone else present. You have my word.” The vampyr smooths his hands over his jerkin. His gaze hardens, and he lifts one finger, his eyes intently focused on Nott.

“And you may put silver to me, Caleb certainly knows what it does to beings of my nature.”

With that Regis steps back into his shop and the door closes again. Nott stares at it for a few moments longer before her shoulders drop a little. And jump back up as the door opens again and Regis pokes his head out.

“Just one more thing, what is a Frumpkin?”

 

“I still don’t like the idea.” Nott says as they peruse the bookstore shelves.

The smell is soothing, and Caleb’s fingers grace the hardcover backs of the many books. One by one he touches and reads the title, then moves on to the next and so on. His brain buzzes with information about higher vampyrs, their reputation as highly intelligent beings, their longevity and capabilities. These were truly frightening, Caleb could understand why Nott was against meeting Regis again. He knew that silver could stop a higher vampyr from acting as he wished to some extent. Still, as Caleb told Nott, Regis seemed to be genuinely interested in them as conversation partners and simply new people.

If he had wanted to suck them dry, that would have happened as soon as they had entered his store. He also wouldn’t have let them leave or would come out after them and try to make them look at him from a different angle. His fingers floated over an interesting title and Caleb took the book from the shelve.

“At least I got to do some shopping.” Nott concludes and pulls two of the teardrop crystals from her pocket. They shimmer beautifully and as light touches them it is like magic sparks dance around the goblin girl.

“Not so smart, that Regis.”

“I think he knew you pocketed them but let you have them.” Caleb murmurs and scans through the first chapter. His companion puffs herself up and concentrates on the sparkling crystal in her paws. The books in this shop are of moderate pricing, the owner also keeps a bin of low-priced books. They are old and tattered, most missing pages or binding. Caleb selects two of them, one containing a fictional king’s tale and the other being its sequel. He is very happy about his find and steps out onto the street again. They walk towards the marketplace, stopping by a few more shops and peering inside.

They walk around the corner of a closed-up pub and are greeted with a cheering crowd. The market stalls display vegetables and grain, children run between the legs of grown-ups, mostly humans and half-elves, a pair of dragonborn vanishes in the crowd and dwarves weave in between. The Center of the crowd are two tieflings, one blue and very loud and the other one lavender with a winning smile.

Their faces are fixed upon the sky, where swords and balls are flying up and plummeting down towards them. The lavender tiefling skillfully catches the swords before they cut up the two performers and moves them through the air, intercepting the falling balls and sending them back up into the air. The blue tiefling laughs happily and accepts two more balls from a tall Aasimar woman. She tries to juggle them and succeeds for a minute or two before she loses them and tosses the balls into the air. Meanwhile the lavender one gracefully dances around her, whipping balls back into the sky with his swords and sometimes the swords themselves, only to pick them out of the air again.

Caleb feels his breath come short at the sight and makes a desperate sound. It looks so dangerous! He pales even further as Jester runs the wrong way and almost clashes with Molly, but instead rolls on the floor and Molly jumps over her in a fluid motion. The only thing keeping him from rushing over and stopping the whole thing is a very relaxed look on Yasha’s face and her open posture.

In one last calculated movement the balls ascend once more, and start do drop in the waiting hands of Yasha, one by one. Molly heaves and shakes loose locks from his face, then he turns to the crowd and bows, Jester mimicking him.

“Thank you! That was a performance by the extraordinary Jester Fancypants!” “And one marvelous Mollymauk Tealeaf!” Jester adds loudly and they both thank Yasha for her assistance, the tall woman smiles and bows slightly. Coins clatter to the ground and applause as well as cheers wash over the performers. They bow once more as the audience starts to disperse and start to mingle between the stalls.

Caleb takes Nott’s paw and tentatively walks up to their companions. Yasha smiles at him and drops the balls on the small pile of circus equipment in the middle of the tapestry. Her eyes fall down to Nott, who is rummaging for something in her pockets.

“Yasha, look!” She exclaims and holds up one of the crystals.

Her eyes are big and her smile happy, Yasha kneels down and gets close to the small glass bauble. The light paints her pale skin with rainbows and her smile grows broader.

“Beautiful, Nott.” Yasha breaths in wonder and hold up her palm at Nott’s gesture. The crystal looked big in Nott’s paw, now it is tiny in Yasha’s big hands and she handles it with care.

“Wow, what is that?” Jester’s face almost crashes into Yasha’s hand and her eyes grow big.

She moves her hands in the air, catching the rainbow lights on her blue skin and smiles.

“Caleb took me shopping.” Nott proclaims and keeps a close eye on Jester while she hops around the crystal, still held by Yasha.

Caleb turns around and watches Mollymauk pocketing his new coins and then striding up to them.

“That would look perfect on my horns, don’t you think, darling?” He winks at Caleb.

“What shop did you get them from?” Caleb takes his calloused hand.

“If you want, we could-“ He begins, before Nott talks over him with a shrill voice.

“Well, we forgot!” The goblin produces the second crystal and shoves it into Molly’s hand.

“You can have that one, no need to find that shop again!” She glares at Caleb. Molly blinks in confusion, but very happily holds his crystal into the light.

“Thank you, Nott! I’ll cherish it.”

“You better.” Nott says with an air of generosity and plucks the other crystal from Yasha’s hand.

“I want one tooooo.” Jester pouts and blows her cheeks out, brows furrowed.

 

They help Molly with packing up his gear and move back to the inn. Molly trails behind with Caleb and turns the crystal in his hand.

“Mind telling me what our dear Nott is up to, with sharing her beloved shinies and all?” He asks, obviously knowing that something is off with Nott’s behavior.

Caleb is left to sigh defeatedly and relay the story.

“You met a what now? A vampyr? I have no idea what that is, love.”

“It is a being that feeds off the blood of other creatures, mostly humans but there are no limitations to their diet. They range from low vampyrs to high vampyrs. Lower vampyrs don’t really have much of an intellect, they act more like animals do, even though some of them are capable of speech and personality. And then there are the higher vampyrs, one could name them lords of their kind.” Caleb explains, one hand waving through the air like a professor holding his lecture, while the other hand rests on Molly’s hip.

“They are very intelligent and almost immortal, killing them takes a lot of work and everyone advises against it. Their abilities outrun those of lesser vampyrs by far, they can charm, vanish into smoke, control other vampyrs and move faster than the eye.”

“I have to say that I am very happy that Nott got you out of there.” Molly says quietly with a stern look on his face.

“I don’t want you anywhere near such a thing.”

“And that is-is perfectly understandable. Although, he said we could put him in silver, so that would minimize the threat. And- “Caleb stutters and tries to smile confidently at Mollymauk.

“And Regis- he-he was very kind and ah I would really like to talk to him, higher vampyrs are very rare. And they don’t need the blood- to them it is like a good wine is for us. I believe he really just thinks that a conversation would be very interesting, an exchange of minds.”

“But he could see you as a fine wine, Caleb. And we could do nothing about it. I could do nothing about it. I am not patronizing you, but I don’t think that is a good idea.” Molly counters and drops his hand from Caleb’s back.

“It-it doesn’t sound like one, you’re right.” Caleb lets his shoulders droop.

“They are just very, very fascinating, so old and they probably know many things. Just imagine, he could tell us about what happened maybe 500 years back or where he has been. They are planes walking creatures, the things he must have seen.” Caleb’s eyes light up.

As he looks at Molly’s worried expression he closes his mouth and avoids the tiefling’s solid eyes.

“But still, bad idea.” He says. Molly looks concerned but doesn’t press any further.

 

They reach the inn to find Beau and Fjord at the table from last night, sitting there with three tankards, one of them empty.

“Your informant already left?” Yasha asks and sits down.

“Yeah, but we will see more of the guy tomorrow. Or more of our assistance, as he put it.” Beau says and looks very sour.

“And now I’m gonna take a walk, have been fucking imprisoned here for so long my butt aches.” She stands up, chair scraping over the floor boards and storms out.

“I gather it did not go very well?” Caleb asks. Fjord shakes his head and winces as the door slams into its frame.

“He did not reveal much about that assistance he is imposing on us, only said that we would need it. So Beau is quite uh unhappy ‘bout it. They are going to meet us tomorrow ‘round early afternoon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even if some say that Molly never was a performer, he is now. I had him practice hard and often.   
> Regis is a character of the marvellous book series about the witcher Geralt of Rivia by Andrej Sapkowski. I do not own this character! Regis kindly agreed for a cameo though.
> 
> Typically banshees are old wailing women of Irish folk lore. She shows up alone to mourn the upcoming death of a person. They can be heard days before the event, as they sit underneath a window and cry. Most banshees pledge themselves to serve one family and announce their grief beforehand.
> 
> Leaving comments and kudos will make me extremely happy! 
> 
> Have a nice time!


	4. Unwind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!  
> Back with another chapter. I want to thank everyone for leaving kudos and comments, you really are a delight!  
> This time the Mighty Nein spend an evening at the tavern and get into the swing of things to come.

 

 

After Beau had left the Barrel Roll with a loud bang, Jester, Caleb and Nott sit down with Fjord. Yasha sidles up next to the bar to get them some drinks and Molly contemplates whether he wants to have a drink or a nap. And maybe a quick wash. He decides to freshen up.

“My dear companions, I will hop upstairs to make myself fresh and sleep a little. I will see you later.” He announces and shoulders his equipment, tied up in his tapestry.

Caleb throws him a small smile and blinks like Frumpkin before he happily accepts the ale Yasha brings to the table. The tiefling smiles back and gingerly climbs the stairs. He washes himself quickly, rinses the make-up off and fills up his waterskin to drink thirstily. After that Molly collapses onto the bed, lying on his stomach and presses his face deep into the pillow that still smells of Caleb.

He feels paws on his back as Frumpkin settles down and kneads his muscles. The sun is shining into the room and warms their backs, they both drift off to sleep with a content purr.

 

Down at the table Caleb cannot wait to stick his nose into the new books he got and pulls them out of his coat. He needs to be careful, the binding cracks at the slightest bend and he contemplates to ask Jester for her mending spell. Worth a try later, the book has not fallen apart yet. Jester meanwhile manages to win Nott and Fjord for a game of Guess What, she gently elbows Caleb in the side to make him look up.

“Do you have a book I could borrow really quick. I need to have words, random words, words I don’t know yet.” He looks at her with a blank stare and tries to catch up with what she is saying.

“You-what?”

“I need a book.” Jester states simply and holds out her hand.

“Please.”

Caleb is not sure what she needs it for but hands her the sequel to King’s Tale. It’s in a less sorry state than the first volume, so it should not fall apart, right?

Jester nods appreciatively and flips through the pages. As her eyes light up, Nott and Fjord lean closer and watch her pull out her notebook, stuffed with drawings and tiny script. Jester flips to an empty page and starts drawing. Her quill used to be a simple goose feather, now she holds one in her hands that is of iridescent blue and green. It scratches across the paper and fine lines start to appear and mingle.

“Pig!” Nott cries out and slams her hand onto the table. Jester shakes her head and adds detail. Then she frantically taps her finger on one certain portion of the drawing.

“High Richter Pruscine?” Fjord tries tentatively but Jester still shakes her head.

Caleb chances a look over the edge of his book. Jester drew a round shape with a broad nose, two exaggerated nostrils and tiny eyes. Hair is curling around the head and she now adds big ears. Then Jester starts to draw short lines all over the round shape and adds a wide grin. Her eyes are big as she pleadingly looks at Fjord, then Nott. She turns around her drawing for them to see upright.

“That’s Pumat!” Nott screams excitedly, and Jester lights up, applauding her. Then she taps once more onto the drawing.

“Firbolg. The word is firbolg.” Fjord says and Jester points at him with a loud “YEEEESSS”.

“One point for Fjord! Nott, you were so close! But you know, I don’t think that Pumat is in Caleb’s dirty book.”

“If you don’t like it, give it back.” Caleb murmurs and holds out his hand.

“Oh no, Caleb. I do like it, it’s still dirty though. I would really like to keep it to play the game, okay Caleb?” Jester says with a serious face and Caleb rolls his eyes, resuming his read.

“Next one!” Jester announces and flips through the pages. Then starts drawing frantically.

Nott tries to guess the word from the first few lines, growing more and more agitated as she fears Fjord might win this round as well.

“Tiara! Coronet! Circlet!” Jester waves for her to go further, taps onto the drawing. Nott’s eyes grow wide and she searches her brain for more terms.

“Diadem!”

“Yes! Nott wins this round!”

“How many names does that thing have?” Fjord states unbelievingly.

“It’s like with very beautiful people in books, or princes and princesses. They have many names, very, very long and elegant names, like Percival Frederickstein von Musel Klosowski de Rolo III.”

“Sounds mighty like someone who needs to tune it down a little.” Fjord grumbles and drinks from his ale.

Yasha leans over and whispers in Jester’s ear, the blue tiefling nods and raps her knuckles on the hardwood table.

“Next word!”

She starts drawing small wobbly lines around a starshaped center. Nott and Fjord continue to stare as Jester connects the symbols with lines and adds small leaves. Caleb swiftly glances over the drawing.

“Forget-me-nots.” He says nonchalantly and continues his read.

“Caleb wins this round!” Jester grins at him.

“How did you know?” She asks, and Caleb thinks about it, because indeed, how did he know. Then it dawns on him.

“Saw them a couple of times.” His ears are growing hot and visibly red. Jester looks smug like a cat and wiggles her eyebrows in an impossible manner.

They continue to play the game with Caleb and Yasha drifting in and out of competition. Fjord is slightly ahead of Nott, but as Jester’s drawing changes from mostly realistic to very free-minded he is lost in the interpretation and Nott manages to close in on him. Beau is a lively addition to their round, as she waltzes back into the tavern and dominates five rounds.

As the light starts to wan into the evening hours, Fjord is in the lead with nine correct guesses, close behind Nott with seven and Beau at six. Caleb and Yasha each won three rounds. Nott tries to keep Jester going, she really wants to win, but Jester shakes her wrist and suggests taking it up again some other time.

“You can keep your score, just remember that and then we will start where we left off. But I am really hungry now, and my wrist hurts a little and I could really need another drink.” Jester explains and looks at Fjord pleadingly. It’s his turn to get them ale. As he comes back, he sits down with a pensive look on his face.

“I think we need to talk about that mission we acquired, as we are supposed to meet that assistance tomorrow.” Fjord looks at Beau and she nods in agreement. Then Fjord clears his throat.

“Caleb.”

Caleb is still very immersed in King’s Tale, right now a vile knight has cut his way through a patrol in the woods, including princess Amanda’s personal guard and longtime crush Titus. So far the author had not revealed if Titus survived the attack or if he-

“Scruffy wizard, oy Caleb!” Beau groans and kicks his shin.

Light for her, hard enough for Caleb to jump.

Fjord elbows her and turns his face back to Caleb.

“Would you please get Molly? We want to talk about that new mission with everyone present.”

Caleb glares at Beau for good measure, before he rises from the table and shuffles past them towards the stairs. The hallway leading up to their room is dark and the floor boards creak. Somewhere a window is open, and Caleb hears a dog bark on the streets outside. He thinks he saw him yesterday, black fur with a short snout and eyeing Frumpkin with indignation.

Caleb stops at their door and leans himself against the frame. He feels out the connection to Frumpkin, sliding into his familiar. He blinks and opens his eyes to the vision of his cat. Frumpkin is, in fact, not being barked at or in any other kind of uncomfortable situation.

He is laying on the back of a sleeping lavender tiefling. Molly’s back rises with steady breathing, arms folded underneath his head to level out his horns. Caleb can feel his warmth underneath his paws and how he himself rises with every one of Molly’s breaths, it’s very nice and calming. He gets up and pads slowly up to Molly’s head, neck exposed by purple locks fallen to one side. As he leans down to closer examine his sleeping face, he murmurs something in his sleep and twitches.

Then twitches again and a hand comes up to wipe at his cheek. Ah, Caleb thinks, whiskers. He always forgets about the whiskers. With a low purr he turns back and licks up the expanse of Molly’s neck’s violet skin.

Molly groans, then groans a little louder. Caleb just continues to lick him with his rough tongue, he likes the new tastes and textures he is picking up.

“Frumpkin, sweetie, stop that.” Molly mumbles into the pillow, wiggling and squirming. One lavender hand comes up to scratch under his chin and Caleb almost starts purring in front of the door. Then he gets mischievous and lumbers down Molly’s back, stopping right atop of his perfectly rounded butt. He turns around to look at Molly’s head and starts jumping. The tiefling lets out a startled noise and his head surges up and around, only to meet with blue glowing eyes.

“Caleb!”

The wizard snickers and pulls back from Frumpkin before he pushes himself off the door frame. He quickly walks through the corridor and sits back down at the table. Molly makes his appearance after a few minutes, hair in order and fresh make-up applied, snuggling with Frumpkin. He rounds the table and stop beside Caleb, one hand coming up to his shoulder.

He looks up at Molly and smiles. Molly bends down and kisses his forehead, while his hand moves further and starts scratching the beard under his chin, a playful smile stretching the tiefling’s lips. A small whine escapes Caleb as he tries to twist away and Beau retches.

“Guys, come on!” She groans with an eye roll.

Molly chuckles and plants one last wet kiss before moving away. He sit down next to Jester, who starts to scratch Frumpkin’s little kitty chin. Fjord clears his throat and begins to speak with his deep rumbling voice.

“Well, now that all of us are here, we should talk about this new mission. Beau and I talked to a gentleman last night and today we got to know the specifics.” The group moves closer together and listens intently to Fjord.

“Our employer is someone who deals with magical artifacts of varying kind. He has approached Beau and asked about her ties to the Cobalt Soul, and whether she would be interested in partaking in a mission to acquire an artifact and earn some gold.”

“Must have seen my guns and thought, yeah, that one can do it. Cobalt Soul monks can do like all kinds of cool monk stuff.” Beau says with a casual grin, leaning back in her chair. Her sidelong glances towards Yasha remain unnoticed though.

“She then directed him back to our table. Besides me there was Nott, but I think that you, due to certain circumstances, didn’t catch most of what we were talking about?” Fjord asks with raised eyebrows.

“Not a thing!” Nott confirms cheerfully and drinks from her flask.

“What are we supposed to do?” Molly asks, Frumpkin lying belly-up in his arms and paws stretched into the air. He continues to rub the cat’s soft belly.

“This gentleman wants us to break into the castle vault to retrieve a very unique artifact. He has informed us that it is not of this plane, therefore very rare. To get into the vault we would have to go through the sewers.” Jester makes a sound of disgust and shivers with memories from the sewers in Zadash. Caleb taps his fingers on the book cover.

“The castle vault sounds like a well-guarded place. Or at least very hard to break into.” He says with a low voice and frowns. He looks up at Fjord.

“That is true. But our informant says that castle Harfield has once been flooded. The current Lord Harlon’s grand-grand-grandfather was a pretty hard skinflint, so he didn’t think of repairing the castle’s outer walls and or to supply drainage. The court had been filled with water up to the Lord’s ankles, until it just disappeared. Everyone seemed to be just fine with that, until they discovered that the lower levels of the castle had been filled up with it. Including the vault.”

“So the great Lord got himself some dwarven stone workers” Beau continues. She snaps her finger at one of the innkeeper’s sons and points at her tankard. 

“The dwarves were supposed to examine the rock underneath castle Harfield and they discovered a cavern. Makes it all the way easier to dispose of the water, so they drilled a hole and let it all flow down there. They did that in several of the underground chambers of the castle.” Her freshly filled tankard arrives and she drinks thirstily. Then exhales and wipes her chin with the back of her hand.

“The next Lord, Cathello Harlon, thought a bit further as he rose to power. He let the dwarves explore the underground cavern further and determine the extent of it. First it was only the dump for castle Harfield, then they expanded the system as the city grew bigger and more stinky. And now they are part of the sewers.”

“Sounds simple enough. This should be doable.” Yasha speaks up and tilts her head to the left, then to the right. Her braids following her movement and sliding off her shoulders.

“What do we need that assistance for?” She then asks.

“Our employer said that the cavern underneath castle Harfield is quite sizeable. Back in the day, the dwarves started digging the sewer passages from the city building them to decline into the cavern so that all the load gets swept into it. If you wanted to reach the drilling hole in the vault, you would need to be flying. And that is where our assistance comes into play.” Fjord finishes his explanation and looks at the faces of his companions.

Caleb looks pensive, like Yasha, Jester is still unhappy about the sewers, Nott drinks and Molly turns to say something.

“What are our parts in that mission, what does each of us do?” He wants to know. Fjord nods and starts pointing towards the team members. The light outside has waned and the halflings start to light the candles and torches in the common room, their lights reflecting on the polished dark wood surfaces and brass bindings of barrels.

“Jester and Beau should go undercover. We need someone on the inside to pull a lever of an old, decommissioned sewer passage to redirect the, well to put it simply, flowing stuff.”

“Ew.” Jester looks even more unhappy.

“Why do I have to do that? It’s really stinky down there!” Fjord throws her an apologetic look and holds up his hands.

“Jester, please. The lever is rusted and heavy, we need some real muscle if that thing is supposed to move even an inch.”

“And you are very strong Jester, a lot of real, tough muscle.” The blue tiefling gives Nott her sweetest smile before frowning at Fjord.

“But Yasha is also very strong.”

“We also have a muscle job for her. I was thinking that she could try to stop the water from flowing into the sewers. Outside the city is a split in the river, where the Lords of Harfield redirected part of the river’s waters towards the city. It pools in a basin and then channels directly into the sewers. But the lever on that side is under water, it runs pretty deep there and anyone with a smaller stature than Yasha would probably have to dive down there and lose all chances of moving the lever.”

Jester huffs and fiddles with a braid in her blue hair. Her foot taps on the floor boards of the tavern as she looks at Yasha, like she tried to decide whether Yasha really was so much bigger than her.

“Fine, I guess you have thought that through then. But I still don’t like it.” Jester pouts and rests her head on Molly’s shoulder.

Her fingers gently stroke over Frumpkin’s toe beans and soon a grin returns to her face, shining brightly at Molly. They both look down at Frumpkin, who seems to be out cold and very content.

“Can’t Caleb do something with his magic, so we can walk and breathe under water?”

Nott muses with her flask in hand. Jester’s head flies around to look at Caleb with pleading eyes. The ginger shakes his head.

“I don’t have any kind of spell like that. And I can’t imagine finding one here in Harfield.”

“Drat.”

Fjord clears his throat.

“Good, so we got that sorted out. Our employer also advised us to send the smallest person to accompany his assistance into the sewers. That person should be capable of lockpicking and be of gnomish size as the sewers are pretty narrow. I told him that this would be no issue with our trusty fellow team mate here.” Fjord’s yellow eyes zero in on Nott, with his tusks peeking out over his lower lip as he smiles. Nott perks up and grins devilishly

“She is supposed to go alone, with someone that we don’t know?” Caleb throws in and can’t quite keep the worry from coating his voice. What if Nott needs him down there, something could happen, anything could happen.

“Don’t worry Caleb. I can look out for myself for some time. I am sure you also have a very important job on which the success of this mission depends.” The goblin nods at Fjord, looking for agreement from the half-orc’s side.

“Ah-“ he is seems taken by surprise.

“Ah, honestly, Caleb and Molly were just supposed to be out there with Yasha, making sure that no one disturbs her while I guard the entrance to the sewers for Jester and Beau.”

“Are you sure you will be okay, _Spatz_? If you need me to go with you-“

“I will be totally fine, Caleb.” Nott pads his cheek affectionately.

“We could do a diversion. Just to make sure.” Molly smiles at Fjord, his tail now swishing behind his chair in patterns indicating mischief.

“Could blow something up to draw the guards out, or some fireworks? They are beautiful and always something to distract the eyes of certain people with.”

“Or I could just dry Yasha after her bath. Either way is fine by me.” Caleb sighs and buries his nose back into his book. Yasha huffs a small laugh and claps him on the shoulder, Caleb makes a strangled noise but smiles his little half smile at her.

“You think that our assistance is a Kenku? Fjord’s informant said that the cavern is big and deep, so if you would have to be flying. And Kenkus are a lot like birds and they are also small enough to fit in the passages.” Jester speaks rapid-fire with excitement. Fjords shrugs his shoulders and Beau purses her lips.

“Might be. Or a very small wizard with levitation skills. We’ll know by tomorrow. Our employer said that he’d send them over ‘round the late afternoon.”

“And how much will this mysterious employer pay us for the job?” Nott asks, and her eyes are drawn into tight slits.

“Good coin for good work, and it doesn’t seem to be easy either, so I imagine there’s some room for negotiations.” She taps her claws onto the wooden table.

“This gentleman has agreed to pay us a total sum of 5500 gold.” The half-orc says in a whisper and the eyes of the Mighty Nein grow wider.

“That must be a very valuable artifact, and heavily guarded on top of that. There has got to be a catch.” Yasha remarks and crosses her arms in front of her chest.

“It does sound like it. Anyway” Fjord says and leans back,

“What have you guys been up to all day?”

“Molly did a pretty amazing show in the town center, he was enacting the Banshee, and everyone loved it. It was so beautiful and elegant and loud too, but that is really just what banshees are like, I think” Jester engages in her unique narration style and her eyes are big and sparkly.

“He jumped in the air and whirled around so fast. He has gotten so much better! You still remember that one time he almost got himself killed with his juggling loops? Anyway, then Molly tried to teach me how to juggle and Yasha was giving me advise. She said that I should first concentrate on landing them right before I try to go faster or higher, although I thought that throwing the balls higher would have made it easier to catch them.”

Her hands move in juggling motions and she smiles happily. Meanwhile Caleb is transfixed on Frumpkin’s exposed, soft belly. He is looking at Molly pleadingly and makes grabby hands. Molly frowns at him, then looks back at Frumpkin and mouths _But my baby_ with a sad look. Caleb scoots closer silently, not to disturb the feline. He continues to look at Molly with big eyes and even kisses the tiefling’s cheek to win his favor.

Molly smiles contently and quickly kisses Caleb back. With his tongue caught between his lips, Molly cautiously transfers Frumpkin to Caleb. The cat continues to sleep, cradled in the wizard’s arms. Molly lets out a relieved breath and turns to Jester.

“They just have more time to go the wrong way, darling. Yasha is an expert, you should listen to what she has to say.” He speaks with a fake chide and bump his horns with Jester’s. She continues to make juggling motions and then throws all imaginary balls into the air.

“We did a very good performance.” Jester ends her story. And Yasha nods, because she was there and it is true.

 

Dinner passes, they play some more Guess What, Nott gets drunk and needs to be carried to bed by Jester. Frumpkin decides that he has achieved his daily kitty sleep contingent and vanishes into the night. Fjord and Yasha talk about sailor knots while Molly tries to tie his new crystal to his left horn.

He got some silver thread from Caleb and weaves the strands together, hitch a few loops and after some time the crystal is securely surrounded by thread. Yasha does the honor of putting it on, Beau scoffs and heads up to her room, with Fjord right after her. The remaining three stay behind, Molly and Yasha are lost in quiet talk while Caleb reads. His eyes are continuously drawn to dancing sparks on the wall, originating from Molly’s new trinket, jumping as he moves his head. The pair of friends grow quiet and the evening bleeds into the night.

As Caleb closes his book to go to bed, he sees that Molly has fallen asleep in his chair, head on Yasha’s shoulder. Yasha is still awake, staring into the fireplace with a pensive look. Her eyes pick up the wizard’s movement, and she smiles at him. He smiles back, then they both look at Molly. He is fast asleep, hands laying loosely in his lap and only the tip of his tail twitches with his dreams. Before Caleb is able to ask, Yasha moves Molly and sweeps him up in her arms. It is a practiced move and the tiefling doesn’t wake up, just curls up a little bit more and nestles closer into her broad chest.

They bid good night to the innkeeper and his sons, then climb up the stairs. Caleb casts Dancing Lights to float in front them. Yasha follows Caleb into their room, where he sets his book down and pulls the blankets aside. The Aasimar lays Molly down and kisses him on the forehead, then turns around and does the same to Caleb. She leaves without a word and closes the door silently. The creaking of the floorboards outside fades into distant noises.

Caleb sits down on the mattress and starts to take Molly’s jewelry off, then he finds a wet cloth and gently strokes along his eyes and cheeks to wash the make-up off. He slowly pulls Molly’s arms out of the coat, one at a time and then slips the cloth free from underneath him. Molly’s eyes flutter and he groans before turning around. Caleb smirks and continues to undress him. His thigh-high boots follow, after that he tucks Molly in, his leggings being comfortable enough for sleep.

Moving away from the bed Caleb, places Molly’s belongings neatly by the other bed. He locks the door and gets rid of his own coat and boots, takes off his belt and trousers. Lastly, he drinks from his water skin. Then he extinguishes three of the four lights and crawls into bed with his beloved. Caleb kisses the corner of Molly’s mouth, his nose rubbing gently against his smooth cheek and one arm comes up to lay across the tieflings chest.

Molly mumbles something in his sleep and rolls onto his side, facing towards Caleb and pulls him in. He tenderly brushes the hair from Molly’s face and snuggles further into his slightly smaller form. As he closes his eyes, the last light dies. Caleb listens to Molly’s soft breathing, feels his ribcage rise and fall, little telltale pats of his tail against Caleb’s ankle telling him about Molly’s dreams. He leans his head against Molly’s chest and breaths in, slowly drifting off to sleep.

 

Nott wakes up with her face buried deep in something squishy and she loves it. It’s warm and smells good, very comfortable and her head is still buzzing from last night. She rolls around and balls up again for another hour of sleep. Jester meanwhile feels the goblin in her arms squirm and cracks an eye open. The sun is barely peeking through the curtains. Yasha is covered in blankets and curled up in her bed. Jester goes back to sleep.

 

Beau rolls out of bed and moves quietly to her stash of clothes. She bandages her chest and forearms, then puts on her blue robe and trousers. Her neck cracks as she rolls her head and splashes some water into her face. Fjord’s sleeping form lays motionless, blankets balled up around his hips. Beau listens to his snoring, regular and slow. She leaves the room and walks down the corridor, exiting the tavern through an open window.

The crisp morning air makes her shiver and she begins to jog down the streets, mindful of anything her bare feet might step into. She breaths evenly and controlled, her arms moving up and down in a small sprint. The monk rounds a few blocks of houses, she sees people opening their windows to let the morning air in, clanking of table ware and the smell of baked goods from a bakery. The shops are still closed, but the market is growing more and more lively by the minute. Carts make their way into the city, loaded with vegetables, fruit, livestock, leather, cloth and other goods. Beau makes a game of vaulting over any obstacle she is able to find.

Her way leads her from the market up to castle Harfield. She jumps up multiple flights of stairs set into stone and runs further upwards. The sun is peeking over the horizon and paints the city in gold, Beau’s panting breaths become visible clouds in the air and her sweat glistens. Some members of the guard throw her passing looks as she sprints past. Soon she finds a small plaza with a tree in the middle of it. While she concentrates on breathing deep, Beau takes out her hair tie and shakes out her mob of brown hair. She roughly combs her fingers through it before tying it up again. Beau smiles a toothy grin at a woman walking past.

 _Yeah, don’t mind me, lady_ , she thinks and starts stretching. _None of your fucking business_. Apart from that Beau keeps her mind blank, going through her routines of push-ups and sit-ups, lunges and multiple poses to stretch her muscles. The sun fully emerges from the horizon and the world explodes in color, the sky fades from pink into blue. More and more people walk on the streets and eye the monk doing chin-ups on a tree in a, as of now, deserted plaza.

Her gaze is fixed on castle Harfield, after another five repetitions Beau drops back onto the cobblestones, wipes her brow and jogs back down towards the market.

Beau climbs back inside through the window and pads upstairs into the washing room. She submerges herself into cold water and scrubs furiously at her feet. The quiet hours of the mornings belong to her, the silence of a few hours every day help her keep her mind in order. Organize her day. Breakfast. After that get out and hit the stores to restock on bandages and food rations, maybe find someone to cut her hair.

She wants to have a look at the sewers herself, talk to some people that might know more about them. The guy who had hired them was shady. The way he had approached her, thinking that a Cobalt Soul monk would take up jobs like that. It seemed like their employer had tried to gather a bunch of people suitable for this job, stumbled upon the Mighty Nein and seized his chance. There was nothing wrong with that, only his hurried behavior led Beau to believe that there was some key component that was soon to change. Just what?

She leans her head back against the edge of the water basin and sighs. Was the artifact soon be moved? Then why not intercept transport? Was someone else breathing up the neck of their employer? If so, she would really like to know who. The water felt no longer cold enough and Beau wiggled her toes, looking over to her bandages. She should probably wash them.

The door in front of her opens and in comes Yasha. Their eyes lock onto each other, the tall woman stopping in her tracks. Beau is pretty sure that her cheeks are growing red.

“Yo.” She tries to sound cool and casual.

“Hey.” Yasha replies quietly and her eyes scoop down for a split second, then they are back up again.

“Ah f-fancy meetin’ you here. Whatcha you doin’ here?” Beau’s mouth draws up into a half smile, she feels dumb and probably looks dumb. Yasha is lost for words, she quickly looks back outside the door.

“I ahm-“ she starts with her gentle voice and looks back at Beau.

“I wanted to wash my shirt.” Dang it, so no bathing with Yasha then. Beau continues to smile.

“Cool. I know, washing sucks and stuff, but one’s gotta do it sometime, right?” Nice one, idiot.

“I gotta wash my bandages, so ah I could ahm join you with that?” She jerks her thumb over to her bundle of clothes and bandages. Yasha’s eyes follow the gesture. When she looks back at Beau she blushes faintly.

“Right now?” She asks with a little smile in the corner of her mouth. Beau blinks and fights for composure. So fucking beautiful. Then she looks down at herself. And blushes more furiously.

“Ah-ah maybe let- let me get dressed first.” She stumbles. Of course Yasha has seen her naked before, but naked mutual laundry sessions would be some kind of new naked.

“I’ll-I’ll be outside.” Yasha replies and turns around, closes the door silently. Beau lifts herself out of the water and clambers over the tub’s edge. Her hair hangs down to the nape of her neck and she rubs it quickly with a towel, then goes down her arms. As she passes her stomach she can’t help herself but smirk appreciatively at her abs and goes further down her trained thighs and calves. She dresses quickly, leaving the bandages aside and knocks on the door to beckon Yasha back in, already lathering up soap in the smaller tub. 

The Aasimar reenters the washroom and approaches the small tub.

“So uh, what you got on your shirt?” Beau asks, she illustrates her question with a quick jerk of her chin.

Yasha lifts the fabric and stretches it out. There are red and violet smudges on the white linen, they distinctly form a face.

“Is that make-up?” Beau splutters and her eyes grow wide as her chest clenches. What bitch-

“Yeah. Molly fell asleep yesterday and I had to carry him upstairs.” The smile that is creeping across Yasha’s face speaks of the love she feels for her friend and she smooths a thumb across one of the smudges.

“Oh.” The monk shuts up and submerges her bandages in the milky water. She begins to rub them together and then against a washboard. Yasha looks at her and a different smile curls the corners of the Aasimar’s mouth. Then she dunks the shirt into the water.

 

Warmth flows over Caleb’s body, down his back and cascades deeper. Smooth and slow, it coils around him and soothes his waking mind back into a half slumber. Ripples run over the surface and make him shiver pleasantly.

He floats in nothingness, but he’s not scared. He doesn’t see anything, only feels, and it feels good. It feels safe to dwell in these nice sensations and get lost in them. He stays there for what seems to be an eternity, floating beneath the edge of waking. It is so peaceful and calm.

Gradually, the warmth starts to concentrate on one point, coalesces and the ripples become waves. They shake Caleb and sweep him upwards to the surface of his slumber. He drifts up and up until he wakes. He blinks and sees nothing except purple, but he feels a lot more.

“Mollymauk.”

“Hmm?”

“Please stop that.”

“What do you mean, dear heart?” A smirk resounds in the melodic voice.

Caleb draws in a deep breath and lets it out in a small huff against bare skin. He feels Molly shiver.

“You don’t need to hold my ass this tight. I don’t think it’s going to fall off anytime soon.”

“You’re sure about that?” Caleb’s head is still tucked underneath Molly’s chin and Molly seems to be enjoying himself. Caleb is even more convinced as Molly starts to knead his ass and nibbles on his ear.

“Pretty sure.” He murmurs, feeling butterflies swirl in his belly. Molly wants him, that’s a very nice feeling. Still, Caleb is not yet ready to do anything with this morning. He wants to lay here and bask in Molly’s warmth, let his thoughts wander.

“Don’t you want me to check? See whether there is really no danger of that gorgeous ass falling off in the near future?” At that proposition, Caleb groans and turns around in Molly’s arms, getting his ass out of reach. Well maybe he should have thought this through first. Barely in time, he reaches for purple hands wandering down his stomach and precariously close to his half-hard cock.

Caleb tangles their hands together and pulls them against his chest. Behind him he hears a lavender tiefling wine playfully. Molly scoots closer and nuzzles his neck, gently kissing the soft skin. His arms draw Caleb closer until he is flush against Molly’s front. Caleb closes his eyes again.

“Did you sleep well?” He asks as a small kiss against the side of his neck turns into a languid suckle. Molly takes his time with the hickey before replying.

“I slept wonderfully, my darling. Did you carry me up here?”

“So you do remember falling asleep downstairs.” Caleb murmurs. One of Molly’s fingers has freed itself and is now playing with Caleb’s chest hair.

“I do.” He can hear the smile in Molly’s voice.

“Yasha carried you up here. I’m just the squishy wizard of this group.”

“The squishy, unfairly handsome and sexy wizard of this group.” Molly corrects him and gets back to paying more attention to his sensitive ear. After some more nibbles without Caleb reacting, Molly draws back.

“Darling, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything. So, to be sure, what is your opinion on…you know? Just need to say the word and I’ll stop.” Molly says, and his voice is sincere. He would never do anything to Caleb that Caleb didn’t want, Molly always asks and draws back if he is unsure or afraid of crossing a line.

Caleb is so much better now than he had been years ago. He is letting himself trust and receive, feels secure. Because Molly is respecting him. Because Molly would always be there, and he would always be considerate, looking out for Caleb. He can trust Molly. Right now, the wizard in question is aware of the hard cock pressing against his backside. He is also aware of his own half-hard cock. It is just too cozy to move right now.

“Maybe give me five more minutes. Feels very good right now and I don’t want to move.” Caleb squirms a little to snuggle closer into Molly’s warmth.

The tiefling chuckles, stops teasing Caleb and rests his chin atop of Caleb’s head, legs tangled with his.

“Tell me whenever, darling.” Molly murmurs and starts to hum softly.

“Hmmm.” Caleb’s voice is dark and rumbling, whereas Molly mostly wakes up with his voice ready for singing, rarely hoarse or off tune. It really is something that baffles Caleb from time to time. He loses himself to Molly’s breathing and takes in all the soft details of this morning, how he feels perfectly safe and the chaos in his head has receded to a background noise. The noises of the tavern haven’t started yet and the streets outside are quiet too.

Golden light flows into their room, Caleb faintly senses its glow through his closed eyelids and imagines how it illuminates dust dancing in the air. How it plays along Molly’s cheekbones and horns, lending his red eyes a fiery hue. He squeezes Molly’s hands and breathes deep, feels no tension in his muscles or cold spikes of fear in his spine. It is truly a wonderful morning. Caleb smiles to himself and presses closer to the tiefling, feeling a low purr resonate against his back.

Time flows, they breathe in unison. Molly’s hum continues, and Caleb rubs his thumbs over his hands, skin against skin that grounds him. It had been a gradual shift for Caleb, getting used to these feelings. It started with small tingles on his lower back reaching around to his abdomen and swirling upwards to his chest. His skin had become less itchy with touch, every place Molly’s body touches sends warm waves to his brain, making him smile. The human breathes deep and squeezes Molly’s long-fingered hands, pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

To this sometimes unbelievably good thing that has descended on him from an unknown goddess.

“Mollymauk?”

“Hmm, darling?”

“Please, hold me?” His voice is tiny.

He feels a kiss being pressed to the back of his head and Molly settles his tail across Caleb’s hip. Molly leans his head against Caleb’s, pulling him closer. He feels enveloped by Molly, like the tiefling is a shield from the outside world, from time slipping by and the sun creeping up through their window.

“Of course, my love. Is this okay?” He asks. His words vibrating with his purr.

“It’s perfect, _Schatz_.”

 

Nott wakes up the second time as the squishiness becomes unbearable and air scarce. She rips her eyes open and sees nothing but blue, then squirms and pushes to get free from Jester’s arms. The tiefling groans in her half sleep and rub at her eyes.

“Nott?” The goblin takes in a deep breath of air.

“Don’t smother me!” Nott complains while Jester stretches like a cat with a satisfied grin.

“But you are so sweet and small, perfect to cuddle.”

“And to suffocate with those muscly arms of yours!” Nott shrieks. Jester sits up and gathers her back up in her arms, squeezing her tight.

“Good morning Nott! Did you sleep well? Did you have good dreams?” Jester ignores the protests and after a few moments they both laugh.

“Alright Jester, good morning to you too. And now let me down!” Nott is being set down and she hops off the bed. Yasha’s bed is empty, the blankets folded neatly.

“Such an early riser.” Jester comments and gets up to change from her night gown into her travelling clothes. She examines the dress and her leather corset closely, scowls at the small tears and cuts in the cloth. But it wouldn’t make any sense to mend it now, she would be down in the sewers in a few days. Jester shivers at the thought and quickly starts to dress. She finishes her outfit with her trademark green cloak, then puts the jewelry back onto her horns.

They meet Fjord in the hallway, yawning and greeting them with tired eyes.

“Good morning Fjord! You look really tired; did you not sleep?” Jester asks while skipping closer.

“Quite the opposite Jester, I may have gotten a tad bit too much sleep. I am hungry like a bear.”

“Oh! I know what we could do!” The tiefling squeals and turns to Nott.

“Let’s go and get everyone pastries for breakfast!”

“Well, but Jester-“ Fjord starts and closes his mouth as Jester is looking at him pleadingly.

“Will you come with us? Please, Fjord. Yesterday, you didn’t get to explore the city at all.” The half-orc rubs the back of his neck and contemplates for a few moments. Nott is starting to feel that he won’t come with them. She looks longingly to the door on the left side at the end of the hallway. Since Caleb moved in with Molly she has gotten a little lonely.

Jester is lovely company and there is always fun with the other girls, but she misses the quiet times with Caleb. Or sleeping in the bend of his knees. Or listening to him read and turn the pages till late in the night, huff that small laugh. She really misses those times.

“Alright, I’ll tag along. Some fresh air to shake the drowsiness.”

Nott is shaken from her thoughts as Jester picks up her hand and smiles brightly down at her.

“Let’s go?” She asks. Nott nods.

They leave the tavern, their halfling innkeeper has just unlocked the front door and greets them outside. He is cleaning the windows with a wet rag. Jester waves at him and asks where she could find a bakery selling pastries. He points them towards the town center.

“If anywhere, then probably close to the castle grounds. Ain’t that common around here.” He says and continues to scrub the glass clean.

“Thanks mister!” Jester lifts her skirts in a small courtesy. The trio makes its way across the street and wander in a big arc towards town center. On their way they hear a couple of older women talking about a person in blue, debating whether that person was a woman or a man. Fjord nudges Jester and points towards them.

“Well the way they ran, it looked very much like a man.”

“You only think that because girls around here don’t wear pants so much. Really now, it was a woman, long hair and all.”

“But wouldn’t…stuff get in the way of running like that? They vaulted over that cart there!”

“Some don’t have much. Like Linda Cumberton.”

“Oh, that girl is only skin and bone. And she never sits still. You think she will ever stop to lead that gang around town? I swear they stole four of my pies and at least once freed the pigs from the yard.” She looks slightly frustrated.

The other woman laughs while winking at her exasperated companion.

“You know they say boys will be boys, so let girls be girls. And I am very sure your husband has been telling you some lies. I saw him three days ago with-” They vanish around a corner.

“Seems like Beau went for a morning run.” Fjord concludes. Jester nods in agreement and follows Nott, the goblin has already rounded the corner towards the market. They swerve the market stalls, looking for baked goods along the way. They come across a stall with a tiny stash of chocolate for a steep price and otherwise only find honey.

“Well he did say closer towards the castle, so let’s go there.” Jester decides, leading their small group uphill of the market. The stores become less and more expensive looking. Jewelry, a store with silk and velvet, a tailor display with ornate gowns. Nott sniffs the air for a trail of caramel or warm sugar.

“This way.” She hisses and runs off towards a tall building, front painted white and the upper part made of red bricks. The windows are small, one doesn’t see much from afar, but up close the display is packed with all kinds of pastries.

“This looks good, I guess.” Fjord mumbles and scrutinizes the assortment.

“Good? Fjord, you really should know better by now! This is fantastic!” And Jester is off, the tiny bell above the door making a desperate sound as it is battered with the door.

“Hello Mister! I’m Jester and I love pastries. Do you have specialties?” She grins broad enough for her canines to peak over her bottom lip and the human store owner backs up slightly.

“Well surely. Do you fancy fruit or chocolate or something simpler?”

“Anything really. But do you have something that not everyone has?” The human’s eyes follow her swishing tail and a hesitant smile appears on their face.

“I guess we do.” They reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays to everyone! See you in the new year :)
> 
> Comments and kudos are my little moments of joy.


	5. Earning Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back folks!  
> More fun with the group and hopefully I did Nott justice.  
> Love her so much.
> 
> Enjoy!

 

As the door creaks open, Molly’s tail twitches subconsciously. He had wrapped himself around Caleb’s upper half, the human’s face pressed against Molly’s bare stomach. Caleb had also wound his arms around Molly’s slim waist and is snoring lightly. Whispers reach the tiefling’s ears, making his eyes fly open in the same moment as Jester decides to make her presence known.

“Good Morning!” She trills and hops onto the mattress, making Caleb jump and suck in a surprised breath. His arms tighten, and he tries to press himself into Molly’s belly with a displeased growl. The tiefling makes a surprised noise as the grip tightens and soothingly rub Caleb’s back.

“Shh, Caleb, it’s alright. That’s only Jester.” Molly presses a kiss into Caleb’s hair and turns around to Jester.

“You little minx, to what do we owe the pleasure?” The blue tiefling grins, bouncing up and down.

“We found a bakery. With really nice pastries!” Jester cries out zealously.

“And they had the best, the very best pastries ever!” Nott chirps from her spot by the door. She is rolling up her lock picking kit and studiously ignores Molly’s narrowed eyes.

“I see. Well, Jester, is it bear claws?” Molly asks with a slight roll of his eyes. It always comes down to bear claws, doesn’t it?

“No! They had something called tiefling tails!” To prove it, she brings a paper back into view. Caleb still hasn’t moved from his position and makes small sounds of discontent. Which sound like he is mumbling into Molly’s stomach. The tiefling looks down at him, then back up at Jester and takes the bag with a quick flick of his wrist.

“Thank you very much, Jester. Now, please close the door on you way out.”

“Of course, Molly. See you downstairs.” There is no trace of remorse in her voice, and she hops back out again, the door closing with a small click.

“Darling dear, Caleb? You with me?” Molly earns himself a disgruntled sound and a grumpy wizard rubbing his face against his toned stomach. Caleb’s stubble scratches and itches and tickles. Molly squirms and tries to get away with small breathy laughs escaping him.

“Caleb, darling, please, please stop.” Caleb sighs deeply into Molly’s skin. He kisses the lavender stomach and up Molly’s dark happy trail before he lets the tiefling go. He sits up, towering above Molly and rubs his hands over his face.

“What did she give to you?” he asks. Molly lightly trails his talons over Caleb’s spine, sees him shiver and arch with the touch.

“She brought us some pastries, apparently they are called tiefling tails.” He explains with a sly smile as Caleb looks at him over his shoulder.

Then he eyes the bag lying on their bed, takes it into his hands. He weighs it and then passes it to Molly. He takes and opens it, revealing a big, curled, crisp and sugar-coated pastry. It’s sprinkled with something dark brown, the smell of chocolate hits them both. Carefully Molly breaks one curl from the whole lock, it snaps clean off. He nibbles on it, tasting vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate. He hums and nods appreciatively.

“It’s good.” They both settle back against the headboard, side by side.

Caleb lays himself across Molly’s lap to reach his book on the bedside table while Molly sets do devour the pastry, occasionally slipping Caleb a bite of it. He eats, but it seems that the pastry is too sweet for his tastes. His nose crinkles and his brows knit together as he concentrates on his book. Every now and then Molly ducks in to kiss his shoulder or nuzzle at his ear, prompting Caleb to read some passages of his book out loud. Molly’s tail is wrapped around his forearm with his tail tip flat to the inside of it, feeling his heartbeat, the rhythm to their morning.

As the pastry is empty, Molly kisses Caleb’s cheek and gets out of bed, starting to dress himself. He spends some time trimming his eyebrows and applying make-up. Then he uses his ring finger to dab some of his violet lipstick on his lips, gently spreading it.

“See you downstairs in 10?” He asks, Caleb nods and turns another page.

“Love you.” Molly kisses his temple and leaves the room. He strolls down into the common room, where everyone except for Yasha, Beau and Caleb are assembled at their usual table.

 

“Greetings my fellow companions.” Molly greets them jovially, sits down next to Fjord and puts his legs over his.

Two muffled greetings and one baritone “Put ‘em down.” is what Molly gets in return. A large plate dominates the table, positioned in the middle of it and loaded with baked goods. Jester and Nott are both eating their way through them. Molly eyes it suspiciously.

“Try one of those.” Nott croaks around her full mouth and pushes several small balls at him. They are powdered in a white substance and as Molly bites down, a splash of marmalade fills his mouth. He gestures a thumbs-up at Nott and eats another one.

“And one of these!” Molly is supplied with yellow cubicles, tasting of lemons and butter. In fear of a sugar rush, he politely declines any more of the pastries and orders tea and breakfast for two. He continues to watch the girls digging into the mountain of pastries.

“Gods, finally something salty.” He sighs with a piece of scrambled egg melting on his tongue.

“Maybe Beau could help with that?” Caleb’s hand sneaks over Molly’s shoulder to steal a piece of dark bread as the wizard bends down to kiss the crown of Molly’s head.

Molly cackles, pulling the chair next to him out for Caleb. He sits down, snags Molly’s free hand with his and leans over to Nott, talking with her in a hushed voice. She rummages in her pockets and her eyes survey the room multiple times before she quickly sets something into Caleb’s free hand. He smiles at her fondly and they awkwardly do their little hand patting.

“Hey Caleb!”, Jester singsongs from next to Yasha, her eyes alight with mirth. Caleb’s eyes swiftly fly over to her and he cocks his head questioningly.

“You got something- riiiiiight there!”  She continues, lightly tapping her temple. Molly leans over and sees a lipstick mark of his own lips there.

“Oh dear.” He quietly huffs and hides his smile behind his hand. Meanwhile Caleb has run one finger over the indicated spot, and it came away lilac, so he trains his eyes on the perpetrator.

“I guess this belongs to you.”

Molly waves his violet hand in the air.

“Guilty as charged. May I plead for mercy in the name of love?”

 

The group splits up, Beau wants to look at the sewers and Molly decides to tag along. Caleb has received the earrings from Nott and sets to enchanting them with her looking proudly over his shoulder. Jester is close by, shortly enraptured by the process before she gets up to find some hidden place to drawing dicks. Fjord and Yasha sit together in the courtyard behind their inn and he repairs his armor, while Yasha continues to craft a new scabbard for her longsword. The sun creeps across the sky and soon the Mighty Nein reassemble at their table, waiting for the promised assistance to show their face.

Nott and Jester are having fun while they wait, testing the new earrings. They whisper to each other and giggle in unison from across the tavern. The group is lounging comfortably, they nurse their ales and tell stories to each other as they play dice. There is laughter and eyes meet to share comments on the topics at hand or a particularly well sleight of hand. The moment Nott suddenly tenses, it throws them all off, making Jester look upset and Beau’s hand twitch towards her staff. Caleb is immediately on edge and follows Nott’s gaze to see a familiar face entering the tavern and approaching their table.

“Good afternoon.” The vampyr says quietly and remains standing, hands loosely gripping the strap of his shoulder bag.

He looks as pale as before, eyes lined with shadows and his black jerkin immaculate. Nott hisses and only Caleb’s warning look keeps her from enacting her goblin nature inside the inn’s common room.

“Hello Nott, Caleb.” Regis nods at them in greeting and eyes the other members of the Mighty Nein with curious red eyes.

“Get out!” Nott shakes and is climbing onto her chair, knife blank and threatening.

“What’s going on?” Both Beau and Jester demand, tense and ready to fight. Yasha’s presence grows and becomes intimidating as her hand rises to the hilt of her longsword.

“Please calm down.” Regis tries to deescalate the situation and takes a step back. Caleb’s eyes are drawn to movement by his legs and he sees Frumpkin madly rubbing himself around Regis’ calves. The wizard furrows his brow and snaps his cat onto his lap.

Regis starts to speak again.

“I was sent here for a reason, my friend told me to meet with a half-orc in this tavern. I assume it’s you, sir?” He addresses Fjord, whose eyebrows are shooting up and he glances around the common room. No other half-orcs to be seen.

“And he mentioned a monk of the Cobalt Soul.” Regis’ eyes wander over to Beau and her blue attire.

“It seems you came to the right table. Still no explanation why our friend Nott here is reacting so awfully due to your appearance, mister…?” Fjord says.

“Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff de Godefroy. Regis, at your service.” He does a small bow.

Molly looks at him, then his eyes wander to Nott and then over to Caleb. The crystal on his horns lights up and sends sparkles across everyone’s faces, drawing Regis’ attention to the tiefling.

“I see you put my crystal to good use, Nott.”

Molly’s brain takes the puzzle pieces and puts them together, his first reaction is to hook his foot underneath Caleb’s chair and pull it towards himself. A snarl starts in his throat and Yasha grips her sword, brows furrowed.

“What the fuck, Molly? I want to know what is going on. Now!” Fjord demands. Caleb raises his hands and speaks up before anyone else can.

“This is Regis, everyone. He runs a small shop near the city market and sells glass crystals and other things made of glass. Nott and I met him yesterday and we ah talked a bit. And, he is a-a-“

“Vampyr.” Regis supplies and looks each one of the Mighty Nein dead in the eye.

They don’t answer. Regis takes a handkerchief from his pocket and slowly reaches into his bag. They hear metal clicking as he pulls out a chain. He drops it onto the table quickly.

“I am not going to harm you. But I understand your behavior and have therefore brought something along. This is a silver chain, you may bind me with it and I will be hindered from doing you any harm. Caleb knows this.” He explains.

“Yes-yes I do. Silver hurts beings like Regis and immobilizes them.”

Beau looks the chain over and jerks her chin at Caleb.

“Check if it’s really silver.” The wizard glances up at Regis and puts a hand out onto the metal, casting Identify. After a minute passes he nods towards Beau.

“It is solid silver.” He says, taking the chain in his hands and looking over to Fjord and Jester.

They nod at him and then Caleb makes eye contact with Nott. They converse quietly, Nott expresses her doubts and fears, how she is not okay with this, but she trusts Caleb. Caleb tells her that he is also afraid. Tells her that he would rather not do this, but he must. He tells her to have her crossbow ready with a silver bolt.

Nott nods almost imperceptibly and Caleb turns to Regis, trying to act composed despite the low growl that has constantly been growing stronger behind him and the tail curled around his middle.

“Regis, could you…”

“Of course.” The vampyr takes one step closer and extends his arms. Caleb cautiously reaches out and winds the silver around his bare wrists, each contact points starts to redden, and Regis’ face hardens. The chain wraps four times around both wrists, and the group relaxes a little bit.

“Alright. Now, may I sit?”

Nott kicks the chair next to her out to Regis and Caleb knows that her crossbow is aimed at the vampyr from underneath the table. He sits down nonetheless, laying his bound arms into his lap underneath the table. As soon as he is settled, Frumpkin jumps from Caleb’s lap onto his and looks at the Mighty Nein with disappointed eyes. Regis smiles down at him and settles his arms around the cat.

“It’s a pleasure meeting you all. You already know my name; may I ask your names?” He addresses the group.

Jester has regained her composure and pipes up from her end of the table.

 

“Hi Regis, I’m Jester. The handsome half-orc next to me is Fjord, and next to Fjord is Molly. You already know Caleb and Nott, which leaves Beau and our big lady Yasha over here.” Each one of them earns a smile and nod from Regis.

“Let’s get to business, Mr. Vampyr.” Beau crosses her arms. Fjord looks towards Regis and takes his tankard back up. He gestures at the inn keeper and one of his sons puts a tankard in front of Regis. He smiles and waits until the boy is gone before he reaches out and, with some struggling, drinks.

“Before that I brought something else.” Regis brings his bag onto the table and throws its flap back. From its depth he produces three small glass baubles and lays them down in front of Caleb. The human recognizes them as the ones that he had set aside, one with stars caught within dark blue and the other changing color with its orientation.

“I was preparing them for if we would meet again. It’s a present. This one is for Nott.” Regis continues and drops a dark green and facetted bead in front of Nott.

“You have one of those crystals with you?” Jester leans onto the table with hopeful eyes, but Regis looks at her apologizingly.

“I’ll bring one next time, Jester. But I have brought some liquor I made myself. To further our budding friendship.” He reaches into the bag once more and pulls two bottles out, both filled with a clear liquid and pushes them into the middle of the table. Beau looks at them approvingly and takes one in hand. The stopper is off within the blink of an eye and she sniffs at it.

“Woah. What is that?” She asks, eyebrows high on her forehead.

“That’s mandrake, I have long practiced the recipe. I would lie if I did not say that I am very proud of the outcome.”

As Regis wraps Beau up into amicable chat, Caleb squeezes Molly’s hand in a futile attempt to calm his lover down. The tiefling’s possessive growl was still present, if a little lower now, but it was telling of Molly’s state of mind. Caleb raises the glass beads up and holds them closer to Molly.

“Look, I found them in Regis’ store. I looked at them and could only think about you. I thought that maybe we would make them into a necklace for you. Or a bracelet? What do you think, _Schatz_?” Molly’s eyes stay glued to Regis for another solid minute, before he glances over the beads in Caleb’s hand.

“They are beautiful, my love. I’m thinking bracelet. One for me and one for you?” He smiles faintly and rubs his cheek against Caleb’s. Caleb hums while he thinks about it.

“You take the one with the stars, I like to think the other one represents all your color and sparkles. It will always remind me of you.” Caleb smiles and rolls the smaller bead between his fingers and admires the complex color changes.

“Deal. And I’ll tell you later how I think this bead perfectly connects to you, my love.” Molly winks, snatches the dark bead and puts it away in his pocket. Beau and Jester are each downing a shot of Regis’ mandrake moonshine and they are loving it. After some coaxing Fjord also joins the fun, Nott stays alert and continues to watch Regis closely. He gives her a smile and turns around to Caleb and Molly.

“This is quite the coincidence to be running into you here. But on the other hand, sooner or later I might have realized that the group of passing adventurers and the new visitors at my store are indeed connected to each other.”

“That is probably true. I don’t think that Harfield has a very high influx of travelers.” Caleb’s eyes are fixed at his tankard. Molly leans over Caleb to give Regis his biggest of smiles, flashing all pointed teeth.

“Hello, I’m Mollymauk Tealeaf. Fortuneteller, former circus performer, founding member of the Mighty Nein. And this lovely man’s very special person. Pleasure.” He introduces himself.

“Pleasure is all mine, Mollymauk.” Eyes wander swiftly over his face and Regis leans back in his chair.

 “You have a rather lovely skin color, have not seen many lavender tieflings in my life. Then on the other hand, same goes for your blue skinned Jester over there. Your lipstick really compliments your shade, Mollymauk.” Regis smiles, keeping up the eye contact.

“Molly really knows his way around make-up and the likes.” Caleb says and looks at him tenderly. Molly rubs his cheek against Caleb’s once again to thank him for the compliment. And to scent him, because one could never be too careful. Molly looks over to Nott. Smart girl, still holding her crossbow at the ready and taking none of the vampyr liquor. He looks back at Regis and recalls what Caleb has told him about their visit. It was time so get some things into the right order.

“Let’s make this clear, Regis. You seem like a smart person, but there is something I need you to get into your head. I heard you tried to charm Caleb. Can’t say I terribly appreciate that.” Molly states with a low voice, filled with snarling, making Caleb twitch and look at him with wide eyes.

“I’d say that is an understatement. I am very sorry this happened.” The vampyr answers. 

With his head lowered, Regis looks down on his bound hands.

“If I may explain? I did not intend to charm your lover.” Molly growls to force his point. Good, the vampyr knows what’s up, and his tail curls tighter around Caleb.

“Unfortunately, this problem originates from some of my natural properties, something I can’t help. The effect varies with the receptiveness of the other party. But it seems that I am- well it seems that Caleb is attuned to my kind. Or in other words, I am his type, one could say in very basic terms.”

“What?!” Molly barks out and is close to give Regis some of his type. Caleb’s hand clamps down on his like a vice. The vampyr takes a breath and looks aggravated.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way. Caleb, it seems, is much more receptive to fiendish energies, I would wager that is due to him being your mate and thereby constantly in contact with the fiend line. Tieflings do descend from demons, they are not far off from us vampyrs than one would think.” He carefully chooses his words.

“Once again, I am very sorry, and I unfortunately cannot switch this off, like you can’t stop breathing. I have no intention whatsoever to interfere with your bond in any way.” Molly looks at Regis with some doubt in his eyes. Caleb, on the other hand, seems to understand something now, and dives in with a question.

“Does this mean that, as I am almost constantly exposed to fiends or fiendish beings like Molly, that I am more likely to fall under your charm as a conditioned reaction of relaxing in Molly’s presence due to our relationship?” The wizard asks and spins the tankard in his hands.

“Yes, it could be seen like that. The aura is similar, my effect is only stronger and more direct as a higher fiend. I am sure you know the spell Charm. To me it is inherent, as my kind does occasionally prey on humans. But normally I need to actively cast Charm to make them be inclined to me, as most are not conditioned. Your little goblin friend over there- “Regis nods at Nott. She is following their conversation with a concentrated expression.

“She also belongs into this fiendish domain. And thus, by knowing some rather exotic types of people, you also tend to have less prejudice. On the plane I resided in before, xenophobia was on a very different level, dwarves, halflings and elves were hunted and murdered. Fiendish or supernatural beings like us were brought down for gold and honor. This place here, apart from the Xhorasian conflicts, is much more open-minded, even though far from perfect.”

Molly looks at him with narrowed eyes, indicating him to cut to the chase.

“Anyway. You are more relaxed and readier to interact with beings of a different nature and due to that mind set it is easier for my inherent charm to influence you. Right now, I’d guess that my effect on you is largely overwritten by your bond with Mollymauk. All in all, the whole affair was like spotting a familiar face and then recognizing that it was in fact someone else.”

“Stop talking, my head starts to hurt.” Beau throws in, putting a hand to her temple while Jester is wildly giggling.

“That is probably the mandrake, Beau. I would advise you to stop for the night.” Regis offers his counsel unsolicited.

“Regis.” Molly draws his attention back to him, face stern and serious.

“I do believe you that it was not intentional. Still, I don’t feel all happy about it. But I would be a horrible person to not consider what my partner wants, and he very much wants to talk with you about a lot of things that I can’t start to fathom.” They earn themselves a loving smile from Caleb and he leans into Molly, which makes the tiefling chuckle.

“Which means that I will tolerate you and keep an eye on you. And after this job is done, our paths will go their separate ways. Alright?” He articulates every word with care and intent, pressing a kiss to Caleb’s temple upon finishing. Regis takes a moment to look at Molly with silent understanding and consent before he clears his throat.

“I think that is reasonable. Although I would love for us to become friends. All of us.” He turns back around to Nott.

“Did our acquaintance mention that I need assistance down in the sewers? Someone nimble and of appropriate stature, preferably with lock picking skills and something called mage hand?”

“I heard about that.” Nott confirms, one elbow resting on the table, hand loosely wound around the handle of her tankard.

“But I don’t trust you in the slightest and I am very small, you are big. How do I know you are not going to kill me first chance? Suck me dry for my goblin blood?” Her voice grows shrill and her eyes are as big as saucers now, making Regis raise his eyebrows in surprise by her vehemence.

“I-I don’t know what to say Nott. I have already told you that I will not harm any of you. Ever. Is there anything I can do to prove myself to you?”

“There is!” Jester pipes up, waving her hands in the air and they all feel a familiar ripple of magic run through them. The rest of the Mighty Nein can’t suppress a groan.

 

Regis blinks surprised, while Nott seizes the opportunity.

“Tell me, are goblins tasty?” Regis’ looks at her with a blank stare, shifting in his seat and tilting his head.

“Tasty? I have no idea, only heard that your taste is, well, insipid. So not very recommendable.” He shrugs his shoulders in apology.

“Do you want to drink goblin blood?”

“I honestly don’t want to drink any blood, higher vampyrs don’t need it and I learned that life is much better without it.” Now the vampyr is really miffed at Jester. He looks at her with brows furrowed. Then he turns back to Nott.

“Could you please refrain from defining me through my natural diet? I have been abstinent for 200 years now.”

“Say it!” Nott barks and waves her crossbow underneath the table, a quite dangerous action.

“Fine, I don’t want to drink goblin blood.” Regis states.

“You are tenacious, Nott. I hope we are on the same page now?”

“Not yet, what about Caleb? And Fjord, Jester and Yasha? I don’t know about Molly and Beau though.”

“Hey!” Molly and Beau protest.

“If you should try to drink Caleb’s blood I will gut you, higher vampyr or not. I’ll have your fangs as a necklace!” She hops onto her chair and leans close to Regis unmoving face, a drizzle of spit landing on his face as she hisses.

“My dear Nott, I do believe that I’d rather not have that happening. I promise to harm no one dear to you as long as I live.”

“Aren’t vampyrs technically undead?” Jester chirps with a giggle and waggles her finger hat Regis.

“I see what you did there.” She sips more mandrake moonshine and leans heavy onto Yasha. Who looks down at her with a sudden realization and gently pries the glass from her hand.

“Jester- I- think you uh had enough of this.”

“But only one glass!!” Jester whines.

“Exactly.” The barbarian murmurs quietly and knocks the liquor back. Then she takes the bottle off the table and puts it away. Jester pouts at her and Beau quickly downs her glass as the blue tiefling starts to eye it.

Regis looks from Yasha to Fjord, then back to Jester.

“I assure you, we are very much able to die. I almost died once myself. Fortunately, a dear friend of mine brought me back.”

“Well if that ain’t familiar. Isn’t it, Molly?” The lavender tiefling shoots a warning glance at Fjord.

“You died?” Molly rolls his eyes, of course the vampyr wants to know now. He really did strike Molly as a curious cat.

“Was dead, not anymore now. Thanks to my lovely here and my trusty companions.” Molly squeezes Caleb and leans his head against his, still feeling infinitely thankful to him and everyone else.

“I would really love to hear about that in more detail! I was a medic once for some decades and I- “

The vampyr’s eyes light up and he leans forward to get a better look at Molly.

“Well, wouldn’t you like to know.” He snarls and nuzzles deeper into Caleb’s hair.

“I’m sorry Regis, I suppose it is a uh rather personal matter.” Caleb says, looking at the bridge of Regis’ nose.

“Understandable. I’m sorry for prying.” Regis backs off.

“Now, I really need to know something else! Regis, do you prefer boys or girls?” Fjord and Caleb both groan and pinch their nose bridges, while the others just succumb to Jester’s calamities.

“I fancy succubae, so technically girls.” Shocked, Regis clamps his mouth shut once the words leave it.

“What are succubae?” Jester’s eyes grow big and sparkly.

“They are similar to tieflings in their appearance, though they always have the legs of goats. On the plane I lived before, a succubus is known to kill men with excessive sex by sucking out their life energy.”

Regis’ eyebrows are wandering higher up on his forehead as he battles against the effects of Zone of Truth.

“And you had sex with a succubus? A threesome? They suck life energy with their pussy?”

Regis firmly presses his lips together and decides to nod but give no more information.

“That sounds so wild! Oh my! I need to draw this for the Traveler!” The blue tiefling jumps up and runs away in search for her notebook, slightly swaying on her feet.

“You didn’t strike me as the kind of person to do orgies.” Beau scoffs at the vampyr and raises her tankard as a toast, like she is a great connoisseur. A sour smile tugs at the corner of Regis’ mouth.

“We all have our hidden sides, I am no exception to this.”

“Anyway, now that you had t’ suffer Jester’s Zone of Truth, I think we could say that we now at least trust each other to some extent.” Fjord concludes and raises his tankard as well.

“Countin’ on your good work Mr. Vampyr.”

 

After that they get into discussing the details of their plan, how Regis and Nott are supposed to get inside the sewers, the vital timing and signals for the other teams.

“I am supposed to levitate through the chamber. Our acquaintance has told you about its size?” The Mighty Nein nod in unison. Regis shifts his stiff wrists and hisses as the silver moves over his skin.

“As soon as we get there I will levitate and pass through the grate into the vault. I need Nott to pick locks along the way. Though I am able to turn myself into smoke, I cannot enter where I have not been invited. So, she is to come along and invite me beyond the thresholds. After I have entered the vault, I will be looking for an object of great value. It is a stone, that much I can disclose to you. Only a vampyr is able to find it amongst other stones and my friend and I are in desperate need for it.” Caleb practically feels Jester hum with questions.

Nott, on the other hand, is still uncomfortable with the idea of being alone with Regis, although he said he wouldn’t drink her blood. There is at least a fraction of more trust between them now. They go back and forth until they are all satisfied with the amount of planning. Beau excuses herself, Jester is back to drawing for the Traveler. Yasha empties her tankard and also leaves the table, depositing the mandrake moonshine in Fjord’s hands. Nott jumps from her chair and walks over to Caleb, squeezing herself onto his lap and they examine the communication earrings.

Molly meanwhile chats with Fjord, keeping a close eye on Regis, who joins Caleb and Nott in their discussion.

“What did you do with these earrings?” The vampyr asks softly. Caleb scrutinizes the diamonds for any signs of strain, fissures or chips. Nott plays with her new bead.

“They are meant to transmit messages between the bearers. I read up on a spell about this. The theory states that inert metals with high purity do the best jobs. We settled on platinum and chose diamonds as energy sources.” Caleb rambles without taking his eyes off the earrings.

“Is it supposed to send the vibrations to its twin material? Under the assumption that both earrings were made from the same platinum cluster?” Regis supplies, clumsily taking his tankard in hands to take a sip.

“Yes, that is correct. You have some expertise in the field of magic? Enchantment in particular?” The human looks at Regis. Caleb swallows a wince as Nott’s bony backside pokes his lap with her wiggle.

“I may have read a small number of books. Unfortunately, it is not possible for me to learn magic, but I’m not horribly hung up on it.” Regis winks and extends one hand.

“May I take a look?” Caleb passes one earring on and their hands touch for a fraction of a second.

Regis’ hands are cold as stone, Caleb flinches slightly. Molly’s tail tightens around his waist. Caleb fishes for Molly’s tail tip and starts to rub the cartilage to calm the tiefling down. His tail was always a fast way to get him to relax. Meanwhile Regis is looking the earrings over. He hands them back to Caleb and nods as if he agrees with something. Then he looks around the table, taking in the remaining members of the Mighty Nein.

“I think I’m going to take my leave now. I will join you at the scheduled meeting point and time.” He holds his hands out towards Caleb to have the silver chain removed.

Caleb is about to reach out, as Molly stands up from his chair and steps in front of the wizard. The tiefling doesn’t spare a look at what his hands are doing, he stares into Regis’ red irises. Then Molly puts the chain back into Regis’ bag and hands it to him. During the whole process Caleb feels a low hum in his stomach and his heart jumps, but he is not yet sure what to make of it.

“See you soon, Regis. Keep the haircut, looks good.” The vampyr nods again and smiles faintly. He gathers Frumpkin up in his arms, scratches the cat’s little head and then sets him down.

“Ah yes. Goodbye Regis.” Caleb tilts his head. Fjord raises his hand in acknowledgement and Jester trills a “Sleep well!” before her concentration is once again directed at the paper before her. Nott sniffs and watches him leave. Regis waves and walks off.

As soon as he is out the door she scrambles for the moonshine.

 

“Gimme! Gimme! I need a drink!”

“Careful there Nott- don’t spill-“

She rips it from Fjord’s hands and uncorks it, taking a deep swig.

“This is really good!” She exclaims and pours some of it into her flask of worryingly diverse alcohol. Caleb dreads the day she might find the right mix to kill them all.

“Caleb?”

“Yes, Nott?” The wizard smiles down on his dear friend and sometimes-mother.

“Could I sleep in your room tonight? I miss you.” Nott asks pleadingly and with big eyes.

“Like we haven’t seen each other much, and normally we talk before we go to bed?” Worry creases her brow and Caleb knows he cannot deny Nott.

Not if she misses him so terribly and he misses her too. And definitely not if she wants to check up on him in her own way. So he looks up at Mollymauk, question reflected in his puppy eyes. The tiefling blinks, then smiles defeatedly and leans down to kiss Caleb’s forehead. He turns to Nott.

“Of course, Nott. You are always welcome, darling.”

Molly brings his mouth closer to Caleb’s ear.

“Should I sleep in the same bed as you two? I might come to miss you.” He looks at Nott with a small pout.

“Whatever you just said, I object!”

“And what if I just offered to give two of my trinkets to you?”

Nott looks at him with narrowed eyes.

“And even if it were the treasure of Buttonbeard, I’m fine sleeping in Caleb’s bed and nothing more, thank you.”

“Sure thing, darling.”

“I guess the bed would be too tight anyway. You’ll have to uh-” Caleb looks up at the ceiling as he thinks, by now absentmindedly rubbing over Molly’s tail tip.

“-uh wait for my hasty return to your loving arms my lavender lily by early morning dew.” Molly’s eyes grow big before his face breaks out into a squawking laugh, tipping him backwards on his chair.

“I’ll wait for your swift return my dear love.” He can’t quite deliver the line without snorting midway, butchering his swooning voice.

His tail unwinds itself from Caleb’s middle and he properly sits down on his chair again. Caleb reaches over and squeezes Molly’s thigh in thanks.

Molly waves at one of the innkeeper’s sons for another ale, then turns back to Caleb and Nott, smiling toothily.

He holds out the glass bead and wiggles his eyebrows.

“Would you do me the honor?”

“I really need to stock up on silver thread with you lot around.” Caleb mutters, takes the bead and braids three strands of silver together to form a decent bracelet. The pearl slides onto it and spins as he twirls it.

“Oh that is nice.” Caleb’s eyes twinkle and he does it again.

The blinking object entices Frumpkin over, he jumps into Molly’s lap and bats at the glass.

“Look who’s back, you little traitor.” Molly grins and kneads the cat with both hands, making him sway.

“Maybe we should ask Regis to adopt you.”

“This will not happen.” Caleb scoffs and gestures for Molly to hold out their wrist. He fastens the new bracelet and admires his work, spinning the bead once more.

“There. Seems good enough. I hope it holds up for a while.”

“Thank you, darling.” Molly beams at his new jewelry. Caleb thinks that the tiefling behaves very different now, no more snarling, possessive touches or kisses. Caleb finds himself relaxing from the previous situation, he never liked being caught in the middle of a conflict.

Molly leans close to kiss him full on the cheek and withdraws with a loud kissy noise. He gets up and saunters over to Jester, his new ale in hand. As he walks off, Caleb’s eyes wander over his long back, the shifting of muscles in Molly’s neck and the pronounced swaying of hips in his gait.

He looks sexy, and he is with Caleb. Who might start to think that he once did something right in his life, if it brought him to this.

Nott shifts on his lap and reminds him of how much love he will be getting tonight. His best friend and his lover both being with him. Caleb ducks his head and smiles into his scarf, almost wiggling happily. As he looks back at the bar, Molly is looking over at him with the same look on his face and a loving smile. Caleb slowly blinks at him like Frumpkin does and gets back to working on the diamond earrings.

 

He fiddles with them for a few minutes, then goes over the spell work again, attuning the range of them.

“ _Spatz_ , tomorrow we will have to test how far those reach.” Caleb tells Nott and holds one of the earrings out to her.

“Will you take one and give Jester the other? Then maybe you could run around the city tomorrow and see if it works.”

“Sure.” She chirps, taking the earrings in her paws. They vanish into the many folds and hidden pockets of her outfit.

“ _Gut_ , _danke_. You should make sure that you can understand the other person clearly, that it is loud enough and if there are any wrong sounds, okay? If there is anything wrong with it take it out and I’ll look at it.”

“You got it! I’ll go give it to her!” The goblin elegantly slides off Caleb’s lap and, in a flash, reappears from underneath the table between Fjord and Jester.

Basking in the small moment of quiet, Caleb closes his eyes and lets himself float through the tavern noise and the voices of his friends.

Upon opening his eyes again, Caleb is greeted with Molly’s face, staring at him with mild amusement.

”Hey there, handsome.” Molly says, tucking a strand of hair behind Caleb’s ear.

“Ah, hallo Mollymauk.”

“How about you and I go upstairs for a while? See who can be louder?”

Molly’s eyes twinkle knowingly. Caleb only wishes that Nott and he were better at reading social cues. Now it is obvious to him why Jester and Fjord have not left the table.

“Well I-” He manages to say, before Nott reappears and climbs back up onto his lap.

“Jester says she’ll help if you let her read that new book you got and wouldn’t share with her.” She tells him.

“I guess that is a fair deal.” Caleb says before he looks back at Molly.

Caleb smiles innocently at him and kisses his smooth cheek.

“I think I have a different idea. But you have to be patient and behave yourself tonight. Will you do that, Mollymauk?”

The tiefling pouts and hums. He settles his hip against the edge of the table and crosses his arms.

“For you. May I have a kiss though? To keep me satisfied for now, please my darling.” Molly haggles and leans his forehead against Caleb’s. Nott looks up at him with a disapproving stare.

“Can you not go a minute without his attention?”

“No, dear Nott. That would kill me, you know?” Molly presses a little closer and Nott hops off Caleb’s lap.

“I’ll be back.” She rasps, patting Caleb’s knee.

The wizard chuckles, then his hands come up to cup Molly’s cheeks, blue eyes falling closed as he kisses Molly softly. Caleb’s lips melt sweetly against his, Molly gently tugs and prods, flitting over Caleb’s mouth like butterfly wings and leave warm tingles in his wake. Molly feels his tail droop to the floor, and he leans in closer. One last soft press of lips and Caleb moves back, looking at them lovingly.

Molly can’t fight the bubbly feeling in his chest and his mouth twitches uncontrollably into a smile. He sits down and settles his chin on Caleb’s shoulder.

Caleb pulls a book out from his holster, beckons Nott back over and starts reading as soon as the goblin is back in place. His breathing grows steady and calming. Molly’s eyes fall closed at some point, tail curled around his ankle and nose pressed to Caleb’s pulse. The human reaches for his hand and slides his fingers between Molly’s, pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

They spend another hour in the tavern, Caleb quietly debating with Nott if he should turn Frumpkin into a mouse to go down into the sewers with her.

After some time, Jester shows them her drawings of scandalous sex orgies she sketched, including succubae, Regis and some unfamiliar faceless beings.

Mollymauk started snoring on Caleb’s shoulder as the rest of the awake Mighty Nein decide it is indeed time to get to sleep.

“Molly.” He whispers, his heart overflowing with tenderness for the tiefling. He turns his head slightly, lips gently meeting Molly’s forehead. Molly’s eyelids flutter and he groans a little.

“Yeah?”

“Time for bed.”

“No….I don’t want to.”

Caleb sighs and gets up nonetheless, Nott having already jumped off and walking towards the stairs.

“Come on, don’t act like your age.” He says teasingly.

Molly rubs his eyes and stretches his tail.

“We’ll I’ll let you know that I’m- oh.” Sheepishly he looks at his hands, then gets up while Caleb laughs his small wheeze.

 

Up in the room Caleb tucks Nott into his bed and makes sure that she is aptly covered by the blanket. Mollymauk is washing his face over a bucket of water, tail swishing gently back and forth. The room is calm and quiet, the crackle of embers in the fireplace a soothing constant.

“You alright, _Spatz_?” Nott nods and wiggles into her space, the bend of Caleb’s knees.

“You got your silver thread up?” She asks, eyes barely visible over the blanket.

“Ja, Mutti.” He smiles down at her, then turns around to look at Mollymauk. The tiefling rubs his face with a clean rug and walks over to lock the door. Then he wanders over to Caleb and Nott, giving his beloved a small kiss on the forehead and ruffles Nott’s hair. Caleb sighs with a smile while Nott grunts displeased.

“Hands off.” She hisses and curls herself into a tighter ball.

“Good night to you too, Nott.” Molly snickers and rubs his cheek over Caleb’s hair.

“Sleep well my darling. Don’t fret, for tomorrow we shall be united again.” The ginger snickers and flops down onto the pillow, looking up at Molly with loving eyes. He gives him one last wistful glance before climbing into the second bed, facing towards Caleb.

“Good night, _Schatz_.”

Caleb extinguishes the candles, still looking in Molly’s direction and trying to see him in the dark. Molly moves around his bed, taking off the clothes that he did not dare to discard as long as Nott was still looking. Caleb feels warm and he is thankful to Molly, for trying to be mindful of Nott as she dislikes any display remotely connected to sexuality.

Like a dick walking past in front of her eyes.

The rustling of blankets and a muffled sigh pull Caleb back into the moment. Molly arranges himself on the mattress, another wistful sigh escapes the tiefling as he rolls over, probably to face Caleb. The wizard only knows by the brief flicker of red as Molly’s eyes pass through a ray of moonlight. He blows the tiefling a kiss and grins as Molly chuckles. Then they lay still, watching each other. They listen to each other’s breathing, Molly humming under his breath gently. Caleb’s eyes start to fall closed, as the low hum lulls him to sleep.

 

Nott listens to her boy and the tiefling as they are gross with each other. She buries her nose deeper into the bend of Caleb’s knees, breathing in his smell of dust, ink and paper, the underlying rasp of earth and wet soil. She rubs her cheek against his calf, covering herself in the smell and distributing some of her own. She likes Jester and Yasha and Beau, but this is her boy, Caleb. From time to time she has to check on him, no one could ever keep her from that. And even though she can also find traces of Molly’s odor on Caleb, lavender and incense, he still smells like the human that she found tattered and dirty, skinny and shattered.

Her tiny hand curls into the blanket and Nott curls tighter, presses more of herself into Caleb’s warmth. Some nights she shakes, can’t sleep. It was harder in the beginning, as their separation was fresh, and she would think darkly of Mollymauk for taking Caleb from her. Then these nights passed and went away as Beau would pull Nott into her lap, Yasha would let the goblin sleep like a cat on her back as she laid on her stomach or Jester would embrace Nott and stick her nose into the black hair. And in the morning, Caleb would be there, greet her and tell her that his alarm didn’t go off last night and that Molly had been very kind to him. The nights passed and went away, but sometimes Nott couldn’t help herself.

But feeling and smelling Caleb now, it helped a lot and she is once more overrun with love and pride for her boy. As Molly hums under his breath, Nott’s ears twitch.

She breathes in deeply and lets her consciousness fall away to the depth of sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly and Nott look out for their boy!


	6. In the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Here with another chapter and an announcement to make.  
> We are now really getting into the story regarding this fanfiction, and even though things are already planned out and mapped, I wanted to take a hiatus to further prepare.  
> Thanks to everyone for sticking around this long through my introductory arc.  
> In the meantime, I will continue to write drabbles as they pop into my head, so look out for those :)
> 
> And without further ado, please enjoy!

 

There is a meowing sound at the window.

Nott’s ears perk up and she blinks into the sunlight. She is curled into the bend of Caleb’s knees, fit against his form like a puzzle piece. Sometime during the night she must have kicked her blanket away and she shivers slightly as she becomes aware of the cold morning air. Her knees as she stretches and yawns luxuriously.

There is more meowing, a familiar voice. Nott sits up, rubbing her eyes and blinking towards the window. Orange fur is visible through a gap between the curtains, moving from side to side.

“Frumpkin” She whispers.

Very cautiously, Nott extracts herself from Caleb’s legs and hops off the bed, keeping an eye on Mollymauk on the other side of the room. The tiefling is fast asleep on his stomach, spread on the bed like a starfish and leaving no room for anyone else. How Caleb manages to sleep in a bed with him is beyond her understanding. The blanket is at least barely covering Molly’s ass, and Nott guesses that is as much as she could wish for with a sleeping exhibitionist tiefling.

She walks over to the window and her eyes meet with Frumpkin’s. The cat meows once more against the glass, fogging it up a little. Then he bats a paw at her before dropping off the window sill. A silent _Oh_ forms in her throat, Nott turns around and sneaks to the door, steps over the silver thread. She unlocks the door and slips out to meet with her cat friend.

\-----------

Molly peeks one eye open as Nott leaves. Then he directs a knowing look at Caleb, who is still pretending to be asleep with deep breaths and a relaxed expression.

“Good morning, my love.” Molly chuckles and rolls over in bed, now facing towards the wall.

Behind him, the sheets rustle and feet tap on the wooden floor towards him. The mattress dips and a Caleb smiles down at Molly.

“Good morning.” He whispers, lowering himself onto Molly’s back and cuddles up against him.

The mattress creaks with the additional weight and Molly tangles his legs with Caleb’s. The ginger makes a happy sound that’s muffled against Molly’s shoulder and slides his arms around Molly’s torso. He kisses the back of his neck and Molly laughs, tickling fingers sliding along his ribs.

It is strange, how one night apart makes them hurt for each other, has them longing for the feel of each other’s skin and warmth.

“I couldn’t wait anymore to hold you again.” Caleb mumbles with his deep rumble.

“Me too, Caleb. The bed felt all wrong and I just wanted to curl up with you.” Molly says.

He quietly basks in the feel of all the contact points between them, where there is hair, smooth skin or fabric, bones or muscle, nails grazing his skin and Caleb’s soft mouth on his neck.

“What will you do, now that you got me again?” He asks and turns his head to blink at Caleb.

The wizard brings his face down to Molly, making Molly melt into their beautiful color. Caleb pouts his lips while he pretends to be thinking very hard about Molly’s question. He wiggles himself further up on Molly’s body, hot sparks shooting into Molly’s groin at a particularly delicious drag. Caleb’s thumbs rub circles into the tiefling’s hips.

“I don’t know, maybe cuddle and then read to you. We still didn’t finish that book we started two weeks ago.” Molly laughs and cuddles deeper into the cushion.

“That would be lovely, dear.”

Caleb hums, dipping down to kiss Molly’s temple. Then he speaks up again, mouth close to Molly’s ear and warm breath ghosting over it.

“Or you could get that beautiful mouth of yours to work and make me forget my name.”

The whisper sends shivers down Molly’s spine.

“I’d like for you to mark me until I’m bruised all over, claim me and show everyone who I belong to. That I belong to you, Mollymauk Tealeaf, and no one else. You could tease me with your hands and mouth until I beg for your cock to fill me, fill me up so good and begging for you to pump into me, marking me on the inside.” _Oh yes_ , Molly thinks, and his fangs displayed in a broad grin, hands flexing and talons digging into the sheets.

“I want to see your cum trickle down my thighs, want to come so hard that it paints your chest with my cum. I want you to take my cock and-“

 

Molly spins around and Caleb comes to lay underneath him. His teeth scrap along the human’s neck before he seals their lips, together they moan and whine.

“I love that dirty mouth of yours.” Molly gasps in between hot kisses and desperate licks.

“ _Ja_? I’ve been practicing.” Caleb smiles with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He clears his throat and resumes his dark, sexy voice.

“ _Oh_ , _Oscar._ ”

Molly dissolves into a heavy laugh, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

“ _Caleb_ , oh Gods.” The tiefling wheezes, shaking and lying limp on top of Caleb.

Caleb waits for him to calm down, peppering him with kisses. It takes about five more minutes  before he starts whispering again.

“I want you to take me from behind, Mollymauk, on my knees. Fuck me into the mattress until my ass is blue and I can’t sit for a week.” He pulls the tiefling’s hair, making him moan, before surging back in and biting his bottom lip in a violent kiss. Then Caleb draws back a little and looks into Molly’s large eyes.

“If you would be so kind, Mollymauk.” He says with a smile and raised eyebrows.

“I’m feeling generous today.” Molly whispers. His hands roam over Caleb’s chest and slip underneath the fabric of his tunic, dragging upwards to reveal deliciously flushed pale skin. Together they get rid of Caleb’s sleep clothes, his hair becoming adoringly disheveled in the process. Molly blushes as he looks down and sees how cute Caleb is, then he breathes in deeply, tries to get back into the mood.

Caleb gasps as Molly’s claws leave red welts on his skin and he grinds against Molly’s thigh.

“I got you” Molly coos. He situates himself more solidly on top of Caleb, one thigh pressing against Caleb’s cock and his mouth sucking on Caleb’s throat as the tiefling climbs over the human. His hands roam, hot tongue and breath leaving searing traces on the human’s skin. Molly comes back up and kisses Caleb slowly, their mouths firmly pressed together.

“Molly - please. More-” Caleb gasps for breath against purple lips before they silence his again. One of Molly’s hands finds its way further down, sneaking between Caleb’s legs, which prompts the human to open up wider. They break apart, panting and eyes closed to savor the last sparks.

When their eyes connect again, and Molly looks into enlarged pupils, framed by delicate blue and the most beautiful in the world, his heart jumps. Molly wants to give Caleb the world, get him home for them to be safe together with their friends. He can see the same sparkle in Caleb’s eyes, his mouth spreads into a sweet smile. A strand of ginger hair is stuck to Caleb’s forehead and hangs into his eye, the wizard tries to blow it away and instead manages to get it into his mouth. That, together with his blush and overall early morning appearance, has Molly melting inside, the sexual tension once more lost to him. Molly slows down, getting comfortable against Caleb. He lightly scatters kisses along his shoulder, cooing.

“Mmh, Caleb. You’re so cute.”

The human huffs.

“ _Naja_ , as nice as that is to hear I wasn’t going for that at the moment.”

“I’m sorry, darling. Can’t seem to get into the mood of all wild sexiness to ravage your peachy ass. Maybe we should go for sweet love instead?” Molly shrugs, grinning down at Caleb with his tail waving lazily in the air behind him. He hums and strokes his hands through Caleb’s chest hair, massaging the muscles underneath.

 

Molly’s kisses him gently as he lays on top of Caleb, warm and perfect like a large cat.

Caleb reaches for the puddle of tiefling on his chest, mussing his hair and tapping his index finger on the pointed tip of his ear. The tiefling’s head flops down.

“So cute.” He mumbles against freckled skin.

“You’re a sap.” Caleb smiles.

“Darling.” Molly purrs and rubs his smell into the ginger before looking up to blink at him, his gaze square on the bridge of Caleb’s nose.

“I wanted to say something.”

“ _Ja_?”

“I wanted to say that I’m sorry.” Molly clears his throat and he climbs off Caleb, propping himself up on an elbow.

“For what?” Caleb replies with his eyebrows raised.

“About yesterday evening, the way I acted around Regis.”

“Oh?” Caleb asks, propping himself up on his elbow as well, mirroring his lover.

Soft creases run from under his armpit to his chest, the amulet he wears jingles at the change of position and the curve of his hip bones is visible over the covers.

“Yes, I should not have acted that way. And I propose that we go and meet him today.” Caleb’s eyes grow as big as saucers.

“You - what? Why?”

“Because-“ Molly says and picks up one of his locks to fiddle with it.

“-you should get to talk to him about history, magic stuff and all those other incredibly smart but complicated things that fly around in your quick head. There aren’t many people you really exchange your ideas with, so I think we should go.”

“I-I, but Molly…. I-I-“

“You want to go, right? But you weren’t going to ask. You weren’t going to do it because you thought that you would make me feel pressured and unhappy about it.”

Caleb lowers his head and self-consciously covers himself, pulling the blanket over his chest.

“I-I do think that. A little bit. I didn’t know if it was okay to ask, I didn’t want to make you feel bad about yourself if you told me not to go. Or to go even though you might not have wanted to. You were so uh- well it was definitely some kind of possessive.” He lays down and curls into himself a little, eyes shying away from Molly.

The tiefling fiddles with his lock, shame creeping up his neck and fear. Fear of having ruined Caleb’s progress and their trust.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispers. Caleb inhales deeply and breathes out shakily before continuing.

“I was afraid that you would think that it wasn’t me talking but the charm. I don’t like the effect that Regis has on me. When I see him I want to talk to him and be friendly. But it makes me uncomfortable and still – _still_ I do want to have a conversation. But I also didn’t want to worry you or have you think that -”

His words get caught in his throat and Caleb’s eyes search Molly’s face and he sighs through his nose. The tiefling scoots closer again, wrapping his arm around Caleb’s shoulders. The human presses his head against Molly’s sternum, sucks in his smell.

“I don’t want to waste the opportunity though…” Molly caresses his ginger hair with his talons, scraping gently and soothingly.

 

“Thank you for telling me, Caleb. It means the world to me. You are-“ He stops himself there and kisses Caleb’s temple, the light caress of lips.

“You are everything. I’m so sorry for making you feel this way. I trust you, Caleb Widogast. I love you and I know you love me. And that means a lot to me and I want you to know that I want you to be happy and to go around talking about smart stuff with every educated soul that comes along.” Molly’s hand strokes down his neck and Caleb closes his eyes. Molly continues, his voice suddenly rough as his throat closes up.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m getting more out of this relationship than you do.” The wizard’s eyes grow big and he whips his head up, wants to protest but Molly looks at him pleadingly, so he remains silent. Looking at the tiefling intently.

“I know we don’t keep tabs, it’s not a good thing to do. But yesterday I ruined your chance of having a nice conversation with an interesting person and I want to make up for it. I’m sorry for going all possessive on you, my love. You are your own person with your own decisions. I’m so sorry.”

“Molly” The ginger slowly brings his face closer and cups Molly’s face.

“It’s okay, Molly. _Alles ist gut._ ”

“ _Alles gut_?” Molly’s lips twitch into a crooked smile as he mangles the words and a big knot unfurls in his chest as Caleb chuckles, relief and lightness washing over him. He is thankful for this person in his life.

“ _Ja_. I love you.” Caleb says with fire in his eyes.

“Love you too.” The tiefling whispers before Caleb’s lips press against his in a featherlight touch.

They kiss to reassure each other, kiss to let the other know what they feel without the limits of words. Sometimes, one word can mean a million things and vibrate in the air like a chord struck beautifully. And sometimes words are like small boxes, too tiny to fit the sentiments and the extent of meaning and feelings for another person into them. They kiss because those tiny boxes are not enough for them. They never will be.

 -----------

Caleb doesn’t notice the chime hanging over the door, seemingly being a new addition to the store, until their ring fills his ears and he flinches. The bells chime through the air and summon a curious Regis, poking his head out from the store’s back.

“Ah, hello Caleb!” He greets the human, walking into the main store while rubbing his hands on his impeccable jerkin. Caleb waves at him with a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Molly saunters in after Caleb and is immediately fascinated by three ornately decorated cups.

Before he runs off, he quickly pulls Caleb’s scarf down and kisses the dark violet bite mark on the back of Caleb’s neck. The ginger freezes up and Molly chuckles, then strides over towards the glasses.

More members of the Mighty Nein burst through the shop’s door and devour the sights it has to offer.

Jester only has eyes for the sparkly crystals and Yasha reverently looks at some flowers made of glass. Fjord and Beau both consciously move through the shelves in utter fear of destroying anything, their heads whipping around in every direction to not miss any ill-placed glass in their path.

Meanwhile Nott barrels through the door towards Regis.

“We’re back!” She barks and shoves her hands into the bowls filled with glass beads, without giving him a second glance.

“I can see that.” Regis smiles faintly and his gaze wanders over the Mighty Nein.

“Nothing fishy!” Nott lifts one finger, her fist filled with glass pearls.

“I’m watching you!”

“Of course you are. They are really lucky to have someone attentive like you, Nott. May I help you with your purchase today?” 

She looks at him with raised eyebrows, then opens her hand.

“How do you make these?”

Regis steps closer and bends down to look at the beads that Nott is holding up to him. One is see through black, but inside it are swirls of faint white and blue smoke, intersected by one stark red line through the middle of the orb. He takes it with long fingers and slightly traces a sharp nail over the surface.

“I heat the glass until it becomes fluid. Then I pour it into a heated mold and add the colors of another glass to it. With some of my tools I can poke it like that-“

He makes a gesture and swirls his wrist.

“-and then I use it as a base to add another color.” Regis starts explaining in detail, which pigments in which glasses mix well and which don’t, he emphasizes the importance of constant heating and that some temperatures are better than others. The two get lost in the finer alchemical terms of glass, color pigments and its interaction with substances like acid, which Regis uses to matt the beads.

Fjord tabs Caleb on the shoulder and leads him over to the quills made of glass.

“How do ya write with somethin’ like that?”

“Let me see.” Caleb mumbles and cautiously lifts one of the fragile quills. It is modelled after a brush, while others look like feathers. Their tips however are similar, the glass is molded into spiraling creases and sharpened.

“I hmm-I guess it goes into the ink and then instead of storing the ink inside the quill’s shaft, it stays in those creases and flows downwards while writing. It gets-” Caleb hums and studies the tip with more attention.

“Due to the spiral I think the ink is slowed down.” The wizard looks around for ink, maybe Regis would allow him to test his theory. An elegant, blue hand appears in his field of vision and Jester raises one of her small pots of ink. She takes out her notebook and looks at Caleb expectantly.

“Ah, thank you, Jester.”

He takes the book from her and dips the quill into the ink. He lets it drip three times, each drop coming after a slightly longer interval. Then Caleb sets it onto the paper and with years of practice starts to draw a circle. The glass glides smoothly, seemingly having no preferred angle to hold it for the best flow of ink. In a swift turn, Caleb fills the circle with two entwining lines, marking their loops with symbols in his fine handwriting. No drops fall onto the paper and he continues to draw the fine details until the ink runs dry. Caleb smiles up at Fjord.

“Something like this.”

Fjord nods, looking impressed. Jester meanwhile takes her sketchbook back, studying the circle. Then she flips to a new page and hold it out to Caleb.

“Caleb, I want you to draw a dick.” She demands.

Caleb looks at her confused, the quill resting in mid-air over her ink bottle.

“ _Was_ \- Why would I do that?”

Jester nods with a stern look, like she had expected him to ask this question. She puffs out her chest and her finger comes up for lecture mode.

“I believe that one can say A LOT about people by looking at the way they draw, especially the way they draw a dick! Everyone sees the things around them with a different perspective. So there are bound to be differences, they draw big dicks because they want to make you think that they got a really big dong and they like to brag, or they draw small dicks to be modest! Like you know, you draw what you see?”

Her hand comes up and flips about three pages back, showing a dick, drawn in vibrant red ink. Caleb has trouble looking away from it, easily finding all the details that make it Molly’s. His bite mark throbs.

“Like here, that’s from Molly. I’d say he likes to brag, and he also wants to make it look really special and exaggerated with that elegant curve and the overproportioned tip. But I do think that all those piercings are real.”

Caleb covers his eyes with his free hand, thinking that Molly is surprisingly good at drawing. In the next moment he dreads his penis might be somewhere in this book as well.

“ _Ahm_ , Jester. Did Molly draw anything else in your book?”

“Well yes! He’s really good I think, he did some pretty flowers for me, you know for a tattoo. And he drew Bo’s dick for-“ Her eyes zip over to Fjord, who is by now politely ignoring them, weighing another quill in his large hand.

“For reasons.” Jester ends with a wink.

“Anyway, I was wondering, if you would draw a dick for me? I would really like to see the way you think and such, or maybe you could also draw Molly’s dick? Let me compare the way you see him to his own perspective. Besides, you probably think that he has a nice dong, you have surely seen it a couple of times, with all the looooove between you and the moaning and-”

Caleb looks at her rapidly moving lips as she goes on, then he wordlessly puts the quill back onto the shelf and steps away. He doesn’t listen to Jester’s protests and instead joins Yasha standing by the glass flowers.

“Are they anything like the real ones?” He asks curiously and lifts one small flower up for inspection.

“Quite close, yes.” Yasha replies, looking closely at a purple flower with curled leaves.

“Some I don’t know. Must be from someplace else.” Her smile is patterned with colorful flecks of light reflecting off or shining through the translucent petals of a purple iris.

Caleb nods and puts a little daisy back, then admires a big white rose. He stays for a few more minutes, then he feels a hand on his shoulder and Yasha blinks her eyes at him. Caleb sighs, smiles at her one more time and walks over to something else catching his fancy, a little closer to Regis. He is aware that he is hesitant of speaking to Regis, so he breathes slowly and tries to talk himself into just doing it. Molly is close by, Regis promised that nothing would happen, and all his other companions are here as well. And Caleb really wants to have that talk with the vampyr.

 

Caleb weighs a large orb of glass in his hands, watching as the light catches inside it as Molly steps up beside him and gently takes it from Caleb’s hand.

“Caleb.” His smile is soft, reassuring and he nods over to Regis and Nott talking.

“I know.” Caleb murmurs, his eyes following the orb like the solution for his problem could appear inside it.

“So?” The tiefling furrows his brow and carefully lays the paper weight down. Caleb fiddles with his sleeve, looking outside as he feels his thoughts getting stuck in his brain. He has run trough all the scenarios and came up with nothing, not even a conversation starter. Their last meetings put too much stress on this whole affair for Caleb to just slip into it.

“Open up.”

The wizard wakes from his reverie and looks at Molly.

“Wha-“ Molly sticks his hand into Caleb’s mouth and the human reflexively clamps down on it. Two fingers and one thumb are now stuck in his mouth and something sour spreads over Caleb’s tongue.

Immediately he grabs Molly’s hand and spits out whatever it is that he put into Caleb’s mouth and he comes up with a quarter lemon.

“Molly!” His voice sounds scandalized and Molly grins at him.

“Did it work?” He asked and his tail curls in the air.

“ _Was_? Why would it?” Caleb huffs and eyes the lemon with a disgusted look.

“Uh-sorry, Caleb. Nott gave it to me, said that it would cheer you up – seems I’ve been had.” Molly looks at Caleb with big red eyes, takes the lemon from him and shoves it unceremoniously into a pocket of his coat. The coat he loves and cherishes, now soaking up lemon juice.

“Nott?” Caleb steps closer and frisks Molly’s coat to pull the fruit out, opens the store’s door and throws it into the street.

Molly looks after it as it flies in a beautiful arc and lands unceremoniously in the dirt, being promptly trampled by a passing pedestrian.

“Yeah. She said that sour things make wizards sweet.”

“Clearly, you have been had, Mollymauk. But still-“ The ginger smiles faintly and brushes his knuckles over Molly’s cheek.

“Thank you, it helped. I’ll _uhm_ \- I’ll go over there now.”

Molly face lights up.

“Go get it!”

Caleb is about to step around Molly, but then he decides to drop one last remark and turns around mid-step.

“And specifically you should know that hot tieflings make wizards sweet, Mollymauk I thought you were smarter.”

The tiefling chuckles, kisses Caleb in passing and amicably slaps his rear, causing the human to wince and quickly walk away from Molly’s predatory grin.

\-----------

Their decision to get going tonight is born from both meticulous planning and the fact that a new moon night promises them perfect cover. The earrings have been sufficiently tested by Jester and Nott, who pockets her trusty wire for her sewer trip underground. Jester fixes the jewelry to her ear and jingles it playfully by shaking her head vigorously. The Mighty Nein return to the Barrel Roll and while Molly, Caleb and Yasha go upstairs to pack their things the rest of them sits at their usual table, being loud and overall cheery with the addition of Regis.

After a quick dinner, they say their goodbyes to their friends staying back at the inn and Caleb leads his companions out the city gate and onto the road again. Guards watch them pass with a silent nod and Molly waves at them with a broad grin.

As soon as they are truly out in the open again, without Harfield’s shadow looming over them, Yasha takes a deep breath and happily wiggles her fingers, her eyes roaming over the wide fields around them.

“Looks like someone is happy to be outside again.” Molly grins up at her.

“Yeah.” She says, sucking in the air to taste its multitude of flavors.

Somewhere rain is falling, it prickles on her tongue and somewhere else, leaf litter is decaying slowly in the humid heat. Her eyes and head hurt from too much things around her, the bustling and city noise. Being able to stretch without knocking things over, enjoying air that is natural and without the additional stench of town. It is something she misses after the first day. The beds tend to be too small, the mattresses smell or make curious sounds. Speaking of sounds, she misses how the night is filled with subtle sounds of animals stalking in the woods nearby, the silence of an open field. Rustle of leaves and feathers overhead, Yasha looks up and follows them with her eyes for a while, smiling.

Next to her, Molly hums while he flips some cards over in his right hand, feeling along their edges for the notches he made. Yasha looks down at him and gently hooks her index finger into the curve of his horn, tugging slightly to make his baubles swing and jingle.

“Oh yes, you are quite happy about this.” The tiefling laughs and playfully shakes his head a little harder. He slips the cards back inside his coat, twirling in a flourish. Dust swirls into the air and he walks backwards in front of Yasha.

“Such a wonderful day, right? Now tell me dear, do you think is there any chance this might go wrong tonight?”

The barbarian quietly walks on, pondering the question.

“Only if the sewers stink very much. Jester doesn’t like that.”

“Ah well, that might become a problem, but we left Captain Tusktooth with her for that. He’ll be sure to come up with something.”

Yasha lifts her hand in a vague gesture.

“Aw, darling. He’ll do marvelous, some fancy water magic and such.” Molly winks at her.

“Then, I’m confident.”

Molly nods.

“That Regis also makes a very competent impression, must be the age. I just hope that Nott won’t have his fangs by the end of the night. Could you imagine a fangless vampyr coming after you? How would he even be able to bite you to drink your blood?” He makes a small hissing sound and pulls the lips back over his teeth.

“I guess he could still use a knife to- open you up.” The barbarian contemplates, tapping one finger on her chin. Molly gasps in mock horror.

“Honestly? This would kill the whole aesthetic. Toothless vampires are so unsexy.”

A few feet ahead of them, Caleb turns around to say something, but as he sees Molly miming a toothless something he looks at them with a very doubtful expression and decides to not bother with it. Instead he poofs Frumpkin around his neck and starts scratching his fur. He mumbles into the cat’s ear and shakes his head.

Molly chuckles and readjusts his pack.

“I think Caleb just told his cat that he very much can’t understand how he ever fell in love with me. CALEB!” The tiefling shouts, prompting Caleb to turn around slightly, seeing Molly jog towards him.

“ _Ja_?”

Molly slides his hand into Caleb’s and swiftly leans in to peck his cheek and then Frumpkin.

“Love you too.” He says and grins.

“Ah, _danke_.” Caleb winks at him, giving Molly a short circuit in his brain before he realizes what the wizard just said.

“You’re welcome. But you do love me too, right? At least I got the impression that this morning you loved at least one part of me very much.”

“Hmm, maybe. But this is nothing to be said lightly. Yasha!” The human turns around to their friend, pointing towards a fork in the road.

“Left.” She nods and gives a thumbs up. Meanwhile Molly slips a finger underneath Caleb’s jaw and grins at him with his fangs glistening in the sun.

“Oh come on, my darling. Just say you love me, hmm? Very much and for all of eternity.”, Molly purrs.

“ _Ja_? All eternity is a very long time, you know? Maybe we can make a deal.” The wizard looks up to the sky, similar in color to his eyes.

“A deal?” Molly perks up.

“For you I will do it for as long as I live, hmm? How is that?” And his smile grows wide, making his face young and bright. He gently tugs on their joined hands to steer Molly the right way. The tiefling sighs in defeat.

“That’s just about enough, Caleb. Love you.” He is rewarded with Caleb laughing quietly and leaning over to quickly kiss him.

They reach the edge of a forest, ducking the tree’s shadows and follow a subtle trail of markings leading them towards their destination.

Yasha takes the lead, they follow her through the underbrush as the sun wanders closer to the horizon and the sky grows red. They move quietly, listening to any sigh of activity other than theirs and soon they hear voices and the crackle of a fire.

“Put that foot down.”

“I won’t.”

“We’re in the fucking woods, so anybody can do as he wants but I still don’t wanna smell ya stinkin’ smelly feet!”

A loud clang and something heavy drops to the ground.

“Hell! Look out!”

Another heavy clang and a roaring laugh.

“Take it down next time.”

The two guards continue their bickering and the sound of wood against metall. Yasha puts two fingers to her lips, then points at Molly and to the left.  She then gestures for Caleb by crooking her fingers and he follows behind her, mumbling the words to Detect Magic. Inside his head, multiple wards ping and he sorts them into an appropriate order for dispelling. They get into position, now able to see the guards sitting around a camp fire. A pot stands over the fire on three iron feet, spewing thick clouds of steam out into the air. The guard on the left is rubbing his foot, his face red under the pale shock of white hair. The other guard stirs the contents of the pot, mumbling and smelling. His beard is almost non-existent, but he is broad and judging by the deep furrows on his brow he is definitely older than the other one.

“Ma gran’ always said to use fresh gravy, never old stuff. It kill the taste of the beef, ya know? Like ya stinky feet.”

“I put ‘em down, now stop whinin’. Ya gran’ said that?”

“Yeah, did. Ma mum didn’t much believe her, and her cookin’ never tasted as good as ma gran’s.”

The blonde one nods, putting is foot down and holding out his bowl to be filled.

“Ma brother’s wife don’t listen to ma mum either, I pity the bastard. Her cookin’ ain’t nothing to write home about, right?” They both chuckle while seemingly recalling a fond memory.

Yasha weighs a heavy branch in her hands, nodding towards Caleb. Caleb starts to lift the wards while Yasha tenses like a spring.

Glyphs start to burn on both guard’s necks, and they jump up with alarm written across their faces. They jump towards their weapons, but their eyes turn black and blood runs down their cheeks as they stumble. Colorful curses fill the clearing and the older one narrowly misses stepping into the fire. Before one of them can activate his glyph to shoot a help signal Yasha clubs them over the head, both falling to the ground like heavy sacks of grain.

Caleb stops his incantation and keeps a hold on the threads of magic around him. Molly slips inside with cat’s grace and dances over to the pond in the clearing. Caleb ceases his grip on the wards, and they slip back into place like nothing ever happened. Over Yasha’s skin fizzles a last remainder of a force field as Caleb dissolves the last configurations are set.

“Hopefully no one notices the shift in the wards.” He thinks out loud, scratching his beard. He makes his way over to Molly and Yasha, each of them tying up one of the guards. Yasha drags the two guards out of view and ties them against a tree, blindfolded and gagged.

Then they takes a quick breather before resuming their preparations. Molly scouts the surroundings while Caleb and Yasha set up camp under the trees, eyeing the pot and its contents with doubtful eyes.

 

As he returns, his companions stand by the water and look out on the small pond. The river’s water flows into it, getting channeled into another stream leading towards the city, while the overflow continues to make its way into the valley, as the river originally did. The lever’s position is barely indicated by two poles sticking out from the water. Between the poles they can see the open wings of the gate, standing open and about ten inches above the water.

The lever mechanism itself is unwarded, the hinges of the gate rusted and hard to move. A high squeak resounds as Yasha experimentally pushes it with her new stick.

Caleb is internally debating how to resolve their problem while Yasha, and Molly is very sure of that, calculates her strength to not rip it off.

“It’s stuck and rusted to hell. I had hoped it was only superficial.” Like on cue, Yasha breathes out in a huffs.

“It’s closer to breaking than working.” She asserts.

“If that is the case we can scratch Mending, it doesn’t do enough to get it back into a functioning state.”

“So use brutal strength to close it without the lever?” Molly suggests.

Caleb invokes a spell to oil the rusted material with transmutation and the water starts to bubble like a broth as a second spell pulls air from the water to form a protective bubble around the hinges. As Caleb is done, the spells humming in the air, he steps back with a nod.

And like this, the sun goes down and the moon starts to peek through the foliage above their heads, owls hoot into the night and Yasha sits attentively by a tree, gazing out over the lake. They wait for the signal to come that their friends moved into position. Molly feels his earring buzz briefly before a slightly vibrating voice echoes through the connection.

“Traveler to Peacock, can you hear me? We’re about to leave the tavern for the stinky sewers, are you ready?”

“Hi Jester!”

“It’s Traveler, Peacock!” Molly snorts, holding the earring still with his fingertips.

“Okay Traveler, we’re getting into position.”

Yasha and Caleb nod, get up and walk towards the lake, Yasha confidently wading into it. Molly and Caleb remain on the shore and look around them, waiting for Yasha to reach the lever. Caleb keeps close tabs on his spells, then Yasha gives a signal and dives down with a surprisingly small splashing sound.

“Peacock to Traveler, Lightning Thunder is on the job” Molly whispers into the earring, receiving a restrained laugh through the connection.

The gate starts to move smoothly, Molly thinks it’s like a walk in a park. As soon as they are done, they’ll sit back down again, enjoy a late dinner and cuddle up in a big pile. That is the part he is most looking forward to.

The gate is halfway closed as a spark of dark energy surges out from the trees and plunges into the water, countering Caleb’s spell. The bubbles seize and the magically oiled metal grinds back together in its rusted state. The gate starts to groan and then blocks, Yasha tries to push it further but the lever creaks, dangerously close to breaking. Caleb is meanwhile looking frantically around their surroundings, whispering his incantation for Mage Armor. Molly grabs the hilts of his swords and draws both, sliding them over his side and neck to activate.

As Yasha’s head emerges from the water and she splutters, a figure appears in the underbrush, glowing hands raised up in a shielding spell. If the Mighty Nein had learned anything about people suddenly coming up to them in a forest and throwing spells, it would be to first shoot then ask. Caleb mutters something under his breath and rubs components between his index finger and thumb, a wall of fire erupts with crackling energy and flying up against the shield. It shields them from the figures view, Caleb whips around and gestures for Molly to move around into the forest. He lunges himself at his pack to get his Glove of Blasting. Molly quickly extinguishes his swords and runs off, diving into the shadows. He stalks through the trees to come up from behind the figure, illuminated by the fire and raising both hands higher.

The voice is feminine, and she chants a something akin to a counter spell in its rhythm. The wall of fire dies down gradually and she strides through it confidently with her mage shield in front of her. Her legs clad in short leather boots and leather pants, her jerkin and vest covered in little pouches. Molly takes in all the details as he sneaks in behind her, ready to strike.

“What do you want?” Caleb’s voice fills the air with his most commanding tone. The woman’s ears flicker and just now Molly realizes he is looking at a tiefling, red like dark wine with silken black hair. Her horns lay snug along the curve of her head, tail waving about in a leisurely motion.

“That would be my line!” She answers, another spell starting to ripple the air around her left hand.

“Don’t you dare.” Molly hisses behind her in Infernal, draining all emotion from his voice. He presses the tip of his scimitar into the meat between her shoulder blades, sliding the other scimitar over his neck again to activate the ice. The tiefling flinches and swears.

“Oh, you sound nasty.” She growls back and swiftly crouches down. Her leg kicks out and fells Molly, he tumbles to the ground, loosing his ice scimitar.

In a quick flash, the other tiefling is on him, hand raised with a vile acidic color glowing off it.

“Fuck you!” He spits in an attempt for Vicious Mockery, her eyes swirling black for a moment.

“Molly!” Caleb screams, Yasha splashing out of the water as fast as she is able to. As the hand descends down towards Molly’s face, he smells the foul stench and his skin prickles. He brings his tail up to wrap around her wrist, holding on to keep that hand away from him.

She blinks and her eyes find his, anger shining in them.

“You-“ Her red eyes grow larger and she stops. Behind her, several blasts explode against the mage shield.

“Sahera?” She asks, getting off Molly and extinguishing her hand. Quickly Molly hops back on his feet and looks her over, backing away towards his companions.

“Who?”

“You are- No. You can’t- You look like my sister.” She explains. Her eyes snap behind Molly and just in time an arm winds around Molly and Yasha steps in front of him.

“What is going on?” She asks, her Magician’s Judge humming after cleaving through the tiefling’s shield spell.

“She seems to think I’m someone else.” Molly murmurs, chancing a quick glance behind him where Caleb is coming towards them, cheeks red and angry.

Molly taps his earring and frantically hisses into it.

“Jester! We have a problem on our hand, possibly enemy contact. The gate is still open, look out for an ambush!”

Curses and swearing come through the connection, then Fjords drawl comes through.

“How many are there?”

“One, situation so far under control.”

The tiefling mage lifts her empty hands, clearing her throat. Then she summons a blinding smile to her face.

“Sorry.” She elongates and steps a little back.

“I shouldn’t have done that, very unhappy about it. I’ll leave you to it I guess.” She winks and takes another step.

“No.” Caleb grunts, coming up besides Molly and he casts Mage Hand, gripping her. Her arms snap to her sides and she gasps in pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dumm dumm DUUUUUMMM!


End file.
